My Envious Ways
by Kristen the homicidal maniac
Summary: Mint has gotten a new boyfriend and Ichigo is a little jealous, especially since Mint's new boyfriend is Ichigo's ex, Masaya. How can a certain blond hair, blue eyed boy help her of her envious ways? [RyouXIchigo and some MintXMasaya] Finished.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yesh, hello one and all. This is my first TMM story. I usually write Teen Titans but I wanted to try something different. And TMM was my first anime series. I've probably read that silly story at least a zillion times. Anywho, I'm using the ages in the book, NOT ON THE SHOW. I'm also using the names in the book. Well I just wanted to say a little about myself before I go on with the story. Here you go.

**Summery: Mint has gotten a boyfriend. Ichigo is a little jealous of her best friend, especially whenMint is datingher ex, Masaya. How can a certain blond hair, blue eyed boy help her of her envious ways? IXR.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew. **

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**_...Chapter one. Ichigo's POV..._

Mint swung her legs softly back and forth on the park bench and looked up into the sky in a daze. The fall breeze shook the multicolored leaves from the tree above us and they slowly drifted to the floor. Mint plucked one out of her hair and went on looking at the sky.

Though everything may have seemed great for her, I clenched my fists tightly and murmured light curses underneath my breath. Zakuro let the breeze procure her hair and sift through it, sending strands of dark plum colored hair in my face. I brushed it away and stared at Mint. She sighed again as she had every two minutes. A light smile cascaded her pink lips and I rolled my eyes.

The three of us hadn't said anything to each other since Lettuce had left with Pudding to go feed the ducks in the small lake in front of us. I could see Lettuce shout in protest as Pudding went running in the lake after the ducks. They obviously had no interest in her breadcrumbs. Being 11, I would have assumed that Pudding would've grown up a little and would've learned _not_ to be so careless.

Yes, the years had come and gone since the Mew Mew project and my powers were no longer needed. I did have to admit, I missed my powers. My team and I had attention with our super powers. We were in magazines, newspapers, and so forth. But that was almost 3 years ago and things had changed. Yes indeed, they had changed.

On thing was for sure, I dumped Masaya. He wasn't a bad fellow, really. I just found that with him studying abroad we were slowly becoming distant. When he found out how I truly felt, he came back to Tokyo to try to repair our relationship. Though, I was happy at first that he was back, our relationship was still slowly coming to an end. So we decided it was for the best if we just remained friends.

But, unfortunately over the past year Mint was becoming closer friends with Masaya. Then a couple of months ago, they started dating. I was happy and excited for Mint; she was my best friend, why wouldn't I be? At least, at first I was happy for her. I knew that choosing Masaya was either one of the smartest things she had done or one of the worst for me. It was both. They were a perfect match, but my jealousy about the couple had risen to a new level.

I have to oppose, I am not jealous. I just hate the fact that my best friend is dating my ex-boy friend. It was obscure and bizarre to me. A new feeling of loathe for Masaya had grown in me.

Mint sighed again.

"Mint, please stop it!" I said angrily. She turned to me; her wavy, indigo hair blew in the breeze as Zakuro's had earlier. She smiled. This hadn't been new to me; recently she had started smiling _a lot more_.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. What's wrong?" She asked.

"You're sighing again," Zakuro answered for me, "Are you anxious about something?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry I hadn't realized I was sighing. I'm fine."

I kicked my legs aggressively, my tennis shoes scraping across the dark green grass. Zakuro must've taken notice to me because I heard her smirk.

"What?" I asked and stared at her. She grinned in an evil way and the whipped her hair to the side, swiping it out of her way.

"I sense jealousy, Ichigo." She said calmly.

"Jealous," I laughed, almost cackled, "Of who?"

She nodded towards the dazed Mint, "Mint."

I laughed in a loud and mocking way, which I never did until now, "That's vague of you to say."

"I'm sure you heard me fine," She thought I didn't hear her.

"I did, I'm not jealous of Mint." I smiled.

"Ichigo, you've been acting a little more protective of Mint since she started dating Masaya." Zakuro looked across the lake at Lettuce and Pudding.

"Yeah, well shouldn't I?"

"No, you shouldn't be protective of Mint even if she _is _your best friend. She should have the right to date a person without you being right there pulling her away."

"I don't pull her away." I protested.

"You do." She replied.

"Only when we've planned something and Masaya ends up with us."

"That never happens Ichigo. Masaya is a nice guy, you should know, you dated him."

I didn't answer her. I knew he was a good guy and all, but I had this strange urge to just pull Mint away from Masaya when they were together around me.

I still wasn't jealous though.

I stared at Zakuro for a minute or two. Then I heard Mint gasp. Zakuro and I turned to look at what Mint was staring at. It was Masaya. I rolled my eyes as Mint grabbed my jacket sleeve.

"There's Masaya." She stated.

Boy, who knew Mint could be different all because of a guy. She had stopped drinking tea in the Café and started going out with Masaya to get tea, which was stupid. We had plenty of tea in the café and she was going out to _buy_ some when she could get it for free.

"Good morning Ichigo, Zakuro, Mint." Masaya greeted us, but said Mint's name with more ardor.

Mint came out of her daze and replied, "Oh, good morning Masaya."

"It's more like the afternoon." I mumbled. Zakuro elbowed me and Masaya gave me a weird look. I smiled at him and he grinned back. When he wasn't looking I sneered.

"I know this is short notice, Mint but would you like to go the museum with me? If it's alright with you, Ichigo." Asked Masaya. Oh god, there he went again with helping the environment. He put on the act a couple of times with me.

Looking at displays of endangered species could tend to very boring. Mint even said she wasn't interested in the dead animal displays. I was going to protest and say she was spending the day with us but Zakuro beat me to it.

"She can go, we don't mind." Zakuro said in her normal tone.

"_I'm going to get you, Zakuro!"_ I thought.

"Thanks guys. I'll see you later." Mint smiled to us and took Masaya's arm as he led her down the road. Lettuce and Pudding walked up to us a second later.

"Huh, is Mint going somewhere with Masaya?" Pudding asked when she and Lettuce walked up to Zakuro and I. Her body was half soaked and her blue jeans stuck her like a second skin.

"Yes," Zakuro responded.

"Oh, that's great. Did they say where they were heading too?" Lettuce clasped her hands together.

"The museum." I said through my teeth.

"That's wonderful." Lettuce smiled her usual shy smile.

"Yeah," Pudding laughed.

"Pudding, you're all wet." Zakuro stood up from the bench.

"Yeah, those stupid ducks ate all my bread." Pudding pouted.

I was wrong, I guess the ducks did want her breadcrumbs and Pudding didn't want them to have any.

"But isn't that why Lettuce took you over there?" Zakuro folded her arms.

"I wasn't finished with my sandwich." Pudding patted some of the additional water from her pants.

"We'll take you home to change Pudding." Lettuce suggested. Pudding nodded and they began to walk home. Zakuro was starting towards them but turned back to me.

"You need to lay off, Ichigo." She frowned.

"What?"

"You need to lay off and let Mint have her own relationship with Masaya. I'm saying this because I'm her friend as well and I've noticed you've been getting in-between her and Masaya. She's stopped to be with you whenever you've asked. Do you think she gets this often?" Zakuro said.

I hadn't really thought about that. Mint was very beautiful and could probably have any guy she wanted. But she never really had the time to go out and meet people. She was still in ballet and had a schedule to do things. I was also on her schedule, so it was probably hard to squeeze Masaya in and such. I looked to the floorwith a littleshame.

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, I didn't look at it that way."

"It's fine. Will you be joining Pudding, Lettuce, and I?"

"I'll catch up with you guy's later." I grinned. Zakuro grinned back and left, walking swiftly down the road.

I looked up at the sky and realized it was a very nice morning. The breeze blew again and the fall leaves fell from the tree above me. I pulled the red leaf that fell in my own crimson colored hair and twisted it in-between my fingers.

The only thing that I was really thinking about was that I still wasn't jealous.

_To be continued…_

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A/N: Thanks everyone for reading my story. I'm sorry if the characters seem a little OOC. I was kind of rushing but I promise they wont be so OOC in the next chapter. Anyways in the next chapter there will be Ryou! Yeah! Tell me what you guy's think. Oh and there's the 2 review count. If I don't get 2 or more reviews I'm not going to update. Sorry if that's harsh but it's not that hard to press the little purple button. - KTHM 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm glad I got reviewers. Thank you. I'll try to make this a little more interesting but the first chapter was just the start so give me a break. Anyways for those who were a little confused about the ages, they're all 3 years older. I wanted Pudding to be around 13 but that would make everyone else like 18 or 20 and they're still kind of childish. So nowthey're around the ages of 15 and 16. Well, here's the second chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

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_…Chapter two, Ryou's POV…_

I wasn't sure what I hated more, Ichigo's complaining or Mint's swooning. They were probably both equal. I wasn't one to pester Mint but ever since she started dating what's-his-buns, Ichigo's ex, Mint had been a little off. Mint had a bit of an attitude and that's what kind of kept her in charge of most things. I respected that.

But Ichigo, on the other hand was a bit easier to tease. She got herself so flustered at the smallest things I said or did. I had to admit it was kind of cute when she worked herself up about doing things she hated. It put some weight off my shoulders, in a way.

"Ryou, this is way beyond one of the stupidest things you've ever done." Ichigo wailed and began mopping the floor again.

I leaned in a chair and set my feet up on top of a table, "What ever are you talking about?"

She pushed the mop to the left and a small wave of soapy water sprawled out under the table I had my feet on.

"The fact that you let Mint have the day off to go with Masaya. Now I'm stuck with her job of mopping." She pushed the mop to right.

"Did I not let you have the day off when you were dating him?" I asked.

"_No_, as a matter of fact, you didn't." Ichigo put her left hand on her hip.

"I'm sure I did, Ichigo." I narrowed my eyes at her.

Ichigo glared right back at me, "I'm sure you didn't, Ryou."

"Yeah well he's gone now and until you get a new boyfriend, you won't be seeing extra days off anytime soon." I smirked.

"Oh my god! You are such a jerk." She stomped her foot like a child.

I stood up, "Right ba-aahh!" I almost slipped in the soapy water but caught myself before I could actually fall and _really_ give Ichigo something to laugh at. But even though my slight accidental trip Ichigo was bursting into tears from laughter.

"Oh…right back at _you_." She laughed and pointed at me. I bit the inside of my cheek and tried not to let my face turn even the slightest of pink. But I felt my face gain heat and I knew I was blushing.

I shuffled next to her and said, "You missed a spot."

She took deep breaths and wiped more tears from her eyes, "Oh lighten up, Ryou. You had to admit that was pretty funny."

"Yeah whatever, just finish your job." I hissed and walked away.

"Why am I still working for you, Shirogane?" Ichigo called and went back to mopping.

"Because you can't resist my charms." I laughed and entered the kitchen. I did have a sense of humor; I just didn't use it much.

"_Because you can't_ _resist my charms?_" Someone mimicked.

I jumped a little freaked out that there were other people in the kitchen. I turned and looked at the blond haired girl in front of me. Pudding was cocking an eyebrow holding a stack of muffins on a platter.

"Hello Pudding." I said sheepishly.

"Don't give me that look, Shirogane. I bet you were flirting." Pudding laughed and shoved past me with the muffins.

"Is that how you talk to your mother? _Smart ass_." I grumbled and watched her leave.

Lettuce smiled as I walked next to her and opened her mouth to say something when the _ding_ to the door chimed. Lettuce rushed past me and I followed her, just to see who had entered. I watched her walk past Ichigo and Pudding and to the door. She bowed respectively.

"Welcome to our café…" Lettuce started.

"Lettuce dear, for goodness sake, you don't need to welcome me." The sapphire-eyed girl retorted as she walked into the café.

Lettuce straightened up and grinned at her friend, "Oh, I'm sorry Mint. I didn't realize it was you."

Ichigo stopped her mopping and waved, "Mint come here, I have something to give you!" she called.

Mint shook her head, "I know what you want to give me Ichigo, I know you too well. Finish your own mopping. Besides, I'm not staying very long. Masaya and I are just coming in to have some lunch then we're leaving."

I looked at Ichigo and she tensed at the name, Masaya. I leaned on the doorway and watched her.

"Oh, um that's great. What are you doing later on tonight Mint?" Ichigo asked. A couple of weeks ago I remembered Mint and Ichigo were talking about going out to the movies and then the mall. A girl's night out thing or something. When Ichigo asked Mint this, I knew she was testing her.

Mint pulled a mirror out of her small purse and began spreading pink lip-gloss across her lips. She didn't look at Ichigo until she was done.

"Mint?" Ichigo asked again.

"Hmmm?" She hummed at her reflection in the small mirror.

"Tonight?" Ichigo raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, tonight!" Mint exclaimed and shut her mirror, "I'm going to the mall with Masaya."

"Well, what about us? We made plans, remember?" Ichigo leaned the mop on a chair. This was going in a bad direction. They were either going to get in a fight or Ichigo was going to be upset for a while.

Mint bit her bottom lip remembering, "I'm sorry Ichigo," she said sympathetically, "I completely forgot."

Ichigo bowed her head, "Oh," then she raised it again and glared, "You know, we made those plans weeks ago to go out."

Mint nodded, "I know and I said I was sorry."

"But, you wrote it down in your schedule. And for some reason Masaya has made it into _our_ plans," Ichigo paused, "again!"

"No, not again." Mint began to protest.

"Yes Mint, again!" Ichigo argued, "I don't think it's been just you and me for a while. I can't even get a hold of you on your phone anymore. It's either busy or your maid answers telling me, you're out again with Master Masaya." Ichigo mimicked the maid.

Mint shook her head, "We went out yesterday."

Ichigo snorted, "Yeah but then you left again to go with Masaya!"

Mint opened her mouth and then shut it. Then she opened it once more, "I _have_ made time for you Ichigo! I go out when you ask me to go out with you. We make plans constantly and we see each other almost every day. But for the past two days when Masaya actually has time for _me_ you give me bullshit!"

That was a word I never expected to escape Mint's mouth, but she was upset. Ichigo and Mint stood there for a minute or two glaring at each other. I looked around the room. Pudding didn't look at the two angry girls and just went on hiding behind the register counter, stacking muffins in the display window.

Lettuce slowly shuffled next to me, her emerald hair that was usual in braids was now being twirled around her finger nervously.

I swallowed and tried to think of something. Ichigo looked like she was about to cry. Maybe it wasn't just only the fight they were having at the moment but the fact that she was lonely. Mint had Masaya now to spend her time with, but Ichigo probably sat at home throwing popcorn at the TV.

Lettuce had her own life to take care of and Pudding had siblings she was looking after. Zakuro was different. She was like Mint. She was a celebrity and had responsibilities. That was understandable. It was all understandable but Ichigo was lonely. And at the moment I needed to stop the fight they were having; I was their boss.

"Ichigo," I yelled without thinking, "Will you go on a date with me tonight?"

Everyone stopped and turned to me, wide-eyed. Yep, it was one of those times when I knew I wasn't going to let myself blush.

…_To Be Continued…

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A/N: Wow, this chapter was probably the worst I've written in a while. I took the time to go over it and made some changes. Originally, Ryou wasn't going to do something like that until the next couple of chapters but I wasn't sure how to end this. Anyways, yes I know Mint would probably never swear. It would be improper for her. I tried not to make everyone so OC too. Anyways give me some feedback, or if you have any thing you want me to add to the story just tell me. Thanks again reviewers. - KTHM 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you reviewers. Yes, this is going to be a Ryou Ichigo POV thing. So it goes back and forth. Anyways I'm glad most of you guy's liked the last chapter. Here's this one. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

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_…Chapter three Ichigo's POV…_

Zakuro smiled softly and then said, "Sounds like it would be nice."

"Nice?" I exclaimed and gave Zakuro a funny look.

She nodded and crossed her legs elegantly. Sipping her tea she said in a quiet tone, "You should be flattered."

I stared at Zakuro for a while, "I'm not. Ryou embarrassed me, I'm just glad I got out of there while I could. He probably would've expected an answer or something."

"You didn't answer him?" Zakuro eyed me and set down her small cup.

"No," I looked away from her, "I just left, rushing out the door without any warning."

Zakuro didn't respond to that and kept staring at me. I fidgeted under her gaze. It was uncomfortable and I bet she knew that, that's why she kept doing it.

"You're not going out with Ryou tonight?" she asked.

I narrowed my eyes at her, "No, that's why I came to see you. Are you listening to me? Zakuro?"

She looked out the restaurant window and set her chin on her propped up hand. Was she daydreaming or in a trance? I wondered and watched her.

"Zakuro?" I called her name again.

"Hmmm?" she hummed.

"Are you listening to me?" I asked.

"I am Ichigo. I'm just distraught that you didn't respond to Ryou. It would've been a nice change. You know, since Mint has Masaya and everyone else is busy." Zakuro explained.

"A nice change?" I scoffed, "Ryou is my boss. He's a total jerk and lowlife. He hasn't changed since I first met him. I would never date him."

Zakuro sat back up straight in her chair, "He has changed, Ichigo. I mean he asked you out in front of everybody. Sure that probably embarrassed you but did you ever really think that he really wanted to take you out for the night? He could've been saving you from boredom or loneliness."

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair, "Well, I have plenty of _other_ things I can do tonight."

Zakuro nodded, "And so do I. I need to leave Ichigo. I have a meeting with my agent. I'll see you at work later." Zakuro stood up.

"Maybe you should go get your jacket and cell phone from the café. I won't be able to get a hold of you tonight if you don't have it with you." Zakuro suggested and walked out of the restaurant. I exhaled a deep breath; she was just looking for a way to get me to go see Ryou…

… Dangling my hands out the window I watched as the evening sun turned bright red and began to set. The cool breeze danced around my fingers and I set my chin on the windowsill. I had been on the floor in my bedroom, looking out the window ever since I got home from seeing Zakuro.

My parents had left earlier that day to go out. I didn't know when they'd be back but whenever the phone rang, I ignored it. I didn't feel much like getting up to answer it or talking to anyone. What obviously had been on my all day was what Ryou had asked.

_"Ichigo, will you go on a date with me tonight?"_

Those stupid words haunted me and ran through my mind all day. I couldn't get rid of them or him. That big dummy, I was thinking about him every second all day. The breeze flowed through my window again and pushed my messy hair out of my face.

But what really got me worked up was that whenever Masaya and I got into a fight, he would come straight to my house and try to apologize but Ryou didn't. Well we weren't really in a fight and he could've tried calling me. But if Ryou cared about me, why didn't he come?

"Humph!" I mumbled and sat up, "Does he even care?"

I stood up and walked down the stairs. I looked at the phone that sat in its cradle on the counter and hoped it would ring. I leaned on the counter and waited. Minutes passed and still the phone didn't ring. I snatched it out of its holder and glared at it.

"Ring, why don't you?_ Ring!_" I shook it slightly.

_RING!_ It chimed as if it had heard my pleading. Though when it rang it startled me and I almost dropped it on the floor.

I grabbed it with two hands and pressed the talk button, "H-hello?" I answered almost too quickly.

"Hey honey, how are you?" My moms voice asked over the phone. I sighed, almost disappointed.

"Oh, hey mom." I said and kicked my legs over the counter.

"Well don't sound too disappointed." She laughed, "Is something bothering you?"

"No, mom." I lied.

"Okay well I just wanted to make sure everything was okay." She said.

"I'm fine." I said in a bored tone.

"Don't throw any wild parties, wink, wink."

I rolled my eyes, "Okay I get you mom. No wild parties."

"For your father's sake. He got in a fight."

"With who?" I sounded shocked.

"Oh, the elevator. He just couldn't shut the doors. Well, that's your father. Anyways I got to go. You father is trying on underwear and I want to see how it looks on him." Mom laughed again.

"Okay bye mom." I hung up.

"Who tries on underwear in the mall?" I asked myself and jumped off the counter.

An hour passed and I began to pace. I walked around the house in a complete circle. Every two seconds I would pass by the phone to see if it would ring it's pretty little tone. I growled in anger and turned it on. I needed to call someone to get Ryou off my mind or to keep me busy.

I dialed Zakuro's cell phone number, but there was no answer. She was probably still off with agent or manager. I sighed, "Okay I'm getting a little pushy how about a nice walk?"

I ran upstairs and changed out of my spaghetti straps and shorts and put on jeans and a black long sleeved shirt. Lazily tying my hair into ribbons, I grabbed my house keys and rushed out of the door.

...My walk turned into a jog and I found myself running all the way to the Mew Mew Café. I ran through the park and down the dirt road to the café. Then I stopped, slamming straight into some person's back.

"Hey watch it." The person grumbled.

"Sorry," I gasped, breathing hard from the lack of air.

"Move it!" Another person said and shoved past me.

Soon I was surrounded my people, walking every which way. What was going on? I wondered as another guy shoved me. _"Oh god!" _I thought and let out a groan, _"It's market night!"_

Market night was basically the night when little booths came out to sell their stuff. Kind of like the mall butoutside. Everybody in god's name went. It was always so crowded. I was pushed and shoved and even stepped on a few times. It was going to take me a little while to get to the end of the park and to finish heading towards Café Mew Mew.

As I got closer to the end of the park, I thought of what I was doing. _What_ was I doing? Going to the café? To do what exactly? I hissed in a quiet tone to myself, "Oh yeah, to see Ryou. And to ask him what? If he cared about me?"

Well there wasn't much time to turn back and head home because as I got to the end, a huge Great Dane was staring at me a little funny. The old woman, who obviously owned him, sat there talking to another older women. The Great Dane licked his mouth and stood up.

_"Oh, how nice." _I thought, _"A little old woman owns this cute, HUGE Great Dane. And I just happen to still have some cat genes in me." _That was true. Even though I didn't fight Kish and his crew anymore, I still hadn't rid of those cat genes. I grinned sheepishly at the dog and slowly backed away.

He barked once and then again. I looked down at the leash he was attached to and laughed. I was safe. I started walking away and then heard the Great Dane bark again. I turned to smile at it when I noticed the leash handle the old woman was holding, was now off her wrist and on the floor.

The dog almost looked like it was smiling evilly. I laughed awkwardly and backed away. He barked again and took a step forward.

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" I cursed and ran as fast as I could. The dog, of course with all its instinct chased after me.

"Fodo! Fodo!" The old woman shot up and yelled.

Yeah, like I was going to outrun Fodo here. I screamed in uttermost terror and ran to the nearest tree. People around me stopped to see what was happening. A black Great Dane chasing after a girl with red hair was probably the funniest or interesting thing they had seen all day. Since it was getting dark, I had a hard time seeing the tree in front of me. But slamming into it made it easy for me.

I grabbed the nearest branch and pulled myself up. I inhaled and exhaled heavily and watched as Fodo jumped up by the trunk and barked. He jumped down from the trunk and barked again, circling the tree.

The old woman shuffled next to the tree and grabbed Fodo by his collar. He stared up at me and barked frenziedly. The old woman hushed him and looked up at me, "You can come down now sweetie."

"I think I'll keep my distance." I called down to her a little shakily.

"Oh, Fodo wont harm you. He just wants to play." The old woman flicked her wrist.

"I have a pet cat and I'm sure that's why he chased me. Besides it's nice up here. All branchy…with bugs." I lied and flicked an ant off my hand.

"Whatever you say deary." The old woman led her dog back to the bench.

Too embarrassed to walk by all the people who just saw me, I jumped out of the tree and decided to take the long way home. I practically stared at the floor the whole way. My feet scraped against the gravel on the sidewalk. I crossed my arms as the breeze got more violent and became more like wind.

"Ichigo?" I heard my name and gasped softly looking up.

"R-Ryou?" I asked and stared at the blond haired boy.

He gave a small smile and I looked around, "What…what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I live here." Ryou cocked an eyebrow. I turned to stare at Café Mew Mew. _"Oh!" _I thought. The light shined through the windows but the sign in the front said "CLOSE."

"I hadn't realized I was walking past here." I said. Ryou walked closer to me and my heart rate sped up.

"Well, um, do you want to, I don't know, come inside for some dinner or whatever?" Ryou rubbed the back of his head. I stared down at my pants. They were ripped and dirty. I bit my bottom lip, knowing I probably looked worst going up.

"Uh, no." I responded.

"Okay, see you later then." Ryou waved and started heading back inside the café.

"Ryou, w-wait!" I stopped him. What was I doing?

Ryou turned around and looked at me, "Yeah?"

"Do y-you care for me?" What was I saying? This seemed so oddly familiar.

"Huh?" he cocked his head to the side, "Well, yeah. I do care for you."

"No! Do you _like_ me?" I asked more quickly, staring at him.

There was silence for a very long time. My face was burning up so bad. I didn't even like Ryou as more then a friend so why was I asking him. I tore my eyes away from him and waited.

"N-no." He finally answered. I shut my eyes at his answer and swallowed.

"I'm sorry?" I pretended not to hear him.

"Not as more then a friend, Ichigo. I'm sorry." Ryou said. I heard him that time and it hurt more then the first.

My stomach dropped and it hurt to talk but I finally spoke up. I smiled and looked at him, "Okay, just wondering." I said.

He looked a little tense, "O-okay."

"I'll see you at work tomorrow." I turned away and began running home.

"Ichigo," He called my name but I ignored it. I was half way down the street when I stopped and rubbed the tears from my eyes.

"I never liked Ryou more than a friend, so why am I so upset." I asked myself. I walked the rest of the way home and opened the door. Mom and dad were still not home and I wasn't very hungry, so I trudged upstairs. I changed out of my clothes and put on my pajama's. I dropped to my knees and stared out the window, dangling my hands out it.

The wind brushed against them and tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. I leaned my chin on the windowsill and watched the tree branches outside my window lean to the left.

Why had I suddenly felt so lonely? Masaya was gone. Mint was gone. Lettuce, Pudding, and Zakuro were never available. And now the one boy that I think I had feelings for rejected me. A staggered sigh escaped my lips and I shut my eyes letting the tears roll out of them.

How nice was loneliness?

_...To be continued..._

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A/N: Whoo, this was one of the longest chapters I've ever written. Well at least 7 pages long on Microsoft word. Anyways, Ichigo has now been rejected how will Ryou feel about Ichigo's question though? You'll have to find out in the next chapter. There will be more jealousy with Mint in the next chapter too. I went over this like 9 times and fixed all my mistakes so if I missed any please excuse me. Happy Holidays!- KTHM 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you my reviewers. I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Anyways, last chapter was basically about Ryou rejecting Ichigo though she never really cared about him in a romantic way but now she's upset. How does Ryou feel about her question? And how come Mint is happy for Ichigo? It's all in this chapter. Here you go.

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_…Chapter four Ryou's POV…_

Silence engulfed my bedroom along with darkness. I rubbed my eyes and opened my mouth. Thick, sticky spit made me gag and I sat up in my bed, still rubbing my fatigued eyes. I hadn't slept well. Weird dreams aroused in my head and throughout the night I repeatedly woke up and went back to sleep. There was something bothering me. Something that I just couldn't get off my mind. Ichigo.

_"Why?"_ I leaned my elbows on my knees, stooping forward. She was on my mind all night. It was as if that question she asked was haunting me. It lingered in my head until this very second. What had got her to ask such a pathetic and feeble question? Why? She hated me and I hated her. It had been like that since we first met. Yeah sure, I teased her, but she never seemed too bothered by it before. What if she thought I was flirting?

Flirting? Ha! I was an obnoxious boss. I didn't flirt, I mocked. But that damn question. I ran my hand trough my fair colored hair and sighed. I stood up and went to the window, opening the blinds. I gave a bored expression and rolled my eyes.

"Wonderful." I said sarcastically. The wind was blowing and rain clouds loomed in the sky, threatening to pour at any second. I shut my blinds and opened the door to my bedroom. Keiichiro walked by quickly down the hall, talking on the phone.

"Uh-huh… yeah it's fine…. don't be sorry… It's a common thing…yes, yes…. okay…. uh-huh…alright, goodbye." Keiichiro pressed the off button and a tiny click was heard.

"Keiichiro, who was that?" I asked, yawning.

"Huh?" Keiichiro turned around, "Oh Ryou. I didn't realize you were awake. Um, that was Ichigo Momomiya. Her mother is ill and she wont be able to show up today. But she promised to come in on her day off." Keiichiro explained.

I normally would've started complaining about this. Saying things like she's a lazy bum or she's just trying to get out of work. But I answered with a small, "Oh."

Keiichiro stared at me a second and examined my expression, "Are you feeling well?" He asked.

I grinned sheepishly, "I'm fine. Just peachy." I mumbled and looked at the floor. I don't think Keiichiro would've taken that answer but the phone started ringing again and he answered it. I walked out of the hall and down the stairs to the café itself. I stepped on the tile flooring and shivered. It was freezing cold and I had nothing on my feet. I rubbed my bare arms trying to gather warmth. I was still in my pajamas, which consisted of just blue jeans.

I looked up at the clock on the wall. _9:36 AM_ it read. Tapping my foot angrily, I crossed my arms and mumbled, "I slept in. Great." The café was supposed to open in less than a half an hour. Plus Mint and everyone else was going to show up at any second.

Maybe Mint wasn't going to show up at work either. Maybe no one would show up at work and I would have the day off. And maybe pigs would fly out of my ass. I exhaled a long breath and slumped forward. I was tired. I was always put in a bad mood when I was tired. Then again, I was always in a bad mood.

I sat down at a table, looking out the window and watched as a red thing came bouncing down the sidewalk. For some reason I shot up, thinking it was Ichigo. I ran to the door as the red thing turned the corner. Running out of the café, I jogged to the sidewalk and skidded around the wall.

I felt like I was in hysterics. Sadly my hopes dropped and I found myself staring at a little blond girl with a red umbrella, Pudding. She gave a small grin and then a laugh, "Nice Ryou. I feel so welcomed. But you should put a shirt on, it's raining." Actually it was sprinkling but I didn't correct her.

"I'm sorry. I thought I…saw the mailman. I'm expecting a letter." I lied and smiled.

Pudding shrugged, her beige raincoat lifting with her shoulders. She pranced next to me and handed me her red umbrella. She gave another grin, "This umbrella kinda reminds me of Ichigo. It really is Ichigo's. I borrowed it. I called her last night. She was upset about something, ya know?"

Her gaze shifted from the umbrella to me, "I don't know if you said anything to her or not, Ryou but I have this strange feeling that you need to speak with her. She's kind of had it tough recently and I can't blame her. She misses Mint. Mint was her best friend. Return this to her for me please."

Pudding walked swiftly pass me and into the café. I stood there, holding that stupid umbrella. "Great way to lay it on me Pudding." I said to myself. I guess I had plans for after work.

An hour passed and no one showed up for work. I swept the floor as Pudding took an order from the only costumer. Keiichiro walked down the stairs and over to me, "Wow, this place is like ghost." He commented.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"It's just so quiet and empty," He sighed, "Such a pity that Ichigo's mother is ill. Lettuce's glasses broke. And Zakuro is at another modeling agency. But Mint said she'd show up soon." Keiichiro smiled.

"What? You never told me all that." I said.

"Well I would've but you ran outside." Keiichiro said in a mellow tone and shrugged innocently. He was never a victim of circumstance.

I handed him the broom, "You can sweep." He took it and I walked into the kitchen. I sat up on the counter next to the sink. There was something bugging me. Something that I just couldn't pull my attention away from. And this was defiantly not Ichigo. This bugged me so much more then her question.

The sink was full with dirty dishes! I jumped off the counter and stared at the dishes for the longest time. My eye, I think actually twitched a couple of times. Ichigo forgot to wash the dishes yesterday. Boy she _really_ was a lazy bum.

"You know Ryou, it's said that in some countries staring at dirty dishes is a sign of laziness." A calmed voice behind me droned.

I whirled around staring at sapphire colored eyes. Mint laughed tauntingly and ran her delicate little hand through her indigo colored hair, whipping it off to the side. She cracked a smile at me, "I frightened you didn't I?" she inquired.

"When life on the barn sounds interesting is when you scare me." I said sarcastically. Mint kept smiling at me, but more expectantly, as if she's waiting for something to be answered. I had nothing _to_ answer so I just stared back. Finally she sighed, her gaze turned away from me and at the ceiling for a moment.

"Okay, I couldn't get a hold of Ichigo last night, so I assume you two went out on a date." She asked crossing her arms.

"Huh?" I cocked my eyebrow again.

"So how was it? Romantic? I bet it was awkward. It's always a bit awkward on your first date with an employee. But she's dated Masaya for a while and she said her first date with him wasn't that awkward. So this wasn't really her first date. Though, it might be yours. " She trailed off. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Mint stopped and squealed, "Ohmigosh! I'm so happy for her. You don't realize how happy I am for her. I want to tell her I'm sorry about our fight yesterday but when I stopped by her house she wasn't home."

Mint began to pace around the kitchen, talking about how her first date with Masaya wasn't really that awkward either. I wasn't really listening. I was wondering where she got the idea that Ichigo and I actually went out on a date. Mint went on for another couple of minutes before she turned around and asked if I was still listening.

"Huh?" I murmured still confused.

"I was asking was the date any good. Because you know, Ichigo has been on multiple dates with Masaya before."

"Mint I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't go on a date with Ichigo last night. I only saw her for but a second." I shrugged my shoulders.

"What?" She asked confused.

"I didn't go on any date." I assured her.

She gave me a nasty look, "What kind of guy asks a girl out and cancels on her for no particular reason?"

"I didn't cancel. I didn't even go."

Mint gasped, "You stood Ichigo up?"

"No," I raised my hands to her in a defensive way, "_We_ didn't go!"

"What do you mean _'we' _didn't go? You asked her out!" Mint put her hands on her hips, still giving me a nasty look.

I shook my head disagreeing, "I didn't ask her…"

"Yes. You. Did." Pudding shouted at me, as she entered the kitchen, "Gosh, you're stupid! You were right there. Right there by the door when you said, _Ichigo will you go on a date with me tonight?_ Because I heard you!" She pointed at the door and then crossed her arms.

"Then Ichigo left, remember now Ryou?" Mint finished.

Oh god! They were right. But I only did it to stop the fight. I didn't even realize I was asking her until I did. I hadn't though about that all day. Man, I was careless! Or clueless. Either one worked.

"Well I guess you're right." I said rubbing my head, "But you have to understand, it was only to stop that fight you were having with her, Mint. I don't need you guy's in a fight. Then it would make everyone else feel awkward during work. Heh. Heh." I snickered some.

Mint and Pudding stared at me strangely, both crossing their arms. We were silent for a while. Then Mint sighed and pulled off her navy jacket. "Okay, we better stop stalling." When was she one to say that? She never did any work.

The rest of the day was silent and empty. The rain poured down and hit the sidewalk, leaving large puddles. I decided to close up early since not many people were showing up. Mint grabbed her jacket from the closet in the kitchen and slipped it on.

"Good bye ladies." Keiichiro waved, smiling happily.

Mint waved back, opening the door. She stopped and waited a minute as Pudding came running to the door, quickly slipping on her own jacket. I walked to the closet and took out the red umbrella.

"Hey Pudding," I called.

She turned around; "Yeah?" she called back.

"Maybe you should take this." I suggested and lazily held it out.

"She should be fine, I'm giving her a ride home." Mint replied.

There went my chances of getting out of going to Ichigo's house tonight. I nodded and put the umbrella on top of a table. Keiichiro began cleaning up and putting chairs upside down on tables. I leaned against the wall and watched him.

The silence that was in my bedroom this morning now consumed the air once again. The only sound there was, was the silent tap of Keiichiro's footsteps walking around the café. I slid down the side of the wall, sitting on the floor. What had I been thinking with I asked out Ichigo?

It wasn't _her_ question that was my problem; it was now my question that was bugging me. I had asked that question out of carelessness. I made it actually seem that I really had feelings for Ichigo. It was no wonder she asked me if I liked her. My question towards her probably bugged her the rest of the day like hers did to me. I inhaled a breath and stood up. I walked to the table and grabbed the red umbrella.

"I'm going out, Keiichiro." I called and opened the closet door, taking out my black raincoat. I stopped when I noticed Ichigo's sweater from yesterday. She never got it. I took it out, I mine as well take it too her if I was giving back the umbrella.

"It's raining terribly Ryou, I don't think you should." Keiichiro began to protest.

"I'll be fine." I slipped on my coat and walked out the door.

It was raining pretty hard. I walked carefully through puddles of water and listened to the thumps of raindrops hitting Ichigo's umbrella. I carried Ichigo's jacket in my arms and kicked at a small puddle in front of me. There was nobody outside, but it was not like I could see anybody through the sheets of rain. When I did finally make it to Ichigo's house, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Just hand her, her stuff and leave? No, I think she deserved the right to know about the mix up. I slowly rang the doorbell and waited. No one answered, just like Mint had said.

But someone had to be home since she called in sick. Well she called in her mom sick but she was…never mind. I knocked on the door, "Ichigo? It's me, Ryou. Are you there? Ichigo?"

There was a muffled sound but no one came to the door. I knocked on it again, "Ichigo?"

"Y-yes?" she opened the door. She was the one who looked sick. Her face was a bit paler and her eyes were puffy.

Once again I opened my mouth and asked with carelessness, "Want to go out for a little while?"

"What?" She opened the door all the way.

"I came by to give you back your stuff, but now I'm asking if you'd like to go out on a walk with me." I responded.

"Um, I don't know. My mom is still pretty sick. She ate some bad sushi and I think I better stay to make sure she gets better." Ichigo pointed her thumb towards the inside of her house.

"I keep telling you, I'm fine." Ichigo's mother called from inside.

"Uh, mom?" Ichigo turned and looked at her mom.

"I'm fine. Go out and play in the rain, then I can take care of you." Her mother laughed. I smiled.

"I'll buy you a drink." I offered.

Ichigo smiled, "Sure." I held out her jacket and she put it on, while slipping on her shoes.

It wasn't long before the rain began to die down. I told Ichigo about the mix up and she kind of laughed it off. She didn't seem too upset about it at all. I was glad but there was some disappointment in me. I was happy that she understood that it was only to stop the fight but a tiny part of me wanted me to like her; to like her a lot.

Sure she was only an employee and I never had feelings for her before but feelings could change right?

The clouds began to separate and the sun began to set. We stood by the lake in the park and watched the rain clouds turn purple and red. It looked pretty cool. I exhaled a long breath and watched it float in a small cloud in front of my face.

"You know, there was a saying once that said _'Red Sky in the morning is a fisherman's warning, red sky at night is a fisherman's delight.'_" Ichigo mentioned and rocked on her heels. I could hear the squishing of the wet grass under her sneakers.

"Oh really?" I stared at her smiling.

"Uh-huh." She nodded.

"So it's going to pretty nice tomorrow eh? Well that's good because I look forward to seeing you at work." I laughed and rubbed my hand on her head, ruffling her scarlet colored hair.

Ichigo blushed intensely and began to mutter something under her breath. She stopped and looked at me, "Y-yeah." She stuttered. I grinned at her and she grinned back.

She hated me and I hated her, but there was always room for some romance.

…_To be continued…

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A/N: Ugh! There was like a huge drag on in the beginning. I'm so sorry everyone. Anyways, the other day I hurt my hands like really badly and I had to see a doctor about it, so it's been hard for me to type. So sorry again about the wait and any errors I made. Now, Ryou has had a different view of Ichigo. How will their romance progress when Ryou tries to help Ichigo of her jealousy towards her best friend and ex-boyfriend? Until then- KTHM (HAPPY NEW YEAR! Good-bye 2005! Hello 2006!) 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you my wonderful reviewers. I had the worst time starting this chapter and I'm sorry for the wait. So now Ryou is having a different view of his employee. Ichigo can't admit she is jealous ofMint and Masaya. With no one to turn to, can Ryou help her of her envious ways? Here you go!

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMM!

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…_Chapter five Ichigo's POV…_

It was sunny out but dark clouds invaded the sky. It was going to rain again. It hadn't rained since I told Ryou that old saying, three days ago. I smiled to myself as I dangled my feet over the brick wall a couple of blocks away from my house. I had been right about it not going to rain and it made me proud somehow. For the last three days things had been finally going my way. Mint and I apologized to each other, my mom was feeling a lot better, and Ryou and I were on our rivalry friendship again.

I stretched out my arms towards the sky, "Finally everything is getting better then it was." I said to myself.

"Boo!" a monster popped out of nowhere, in front of my face.

Startled, I lost my balance and fell backwards off the brick wall and onto the grass of someone's front yard. So much for cats landing on their feet. The air was knocked out of me for a second and I rolled over on my stomach, propping myself up so I was sitting on my knees. I coughed and clutched my stomach.

"Ugh!" I moaned.

"Oops, sorry Ichigo." The monster pulled off its mask and apologized. I turned my head and looked up at Pudding. She grinned apologetically and waved slowly.

"Pudding," I coughed, "What are you doing?" I stood up still clutching my stomach. I landed on my back and my stomach was hurting? Must've been when the air was knocked out of me.

"I'm on a secret mission." She looked around suspiciously.

I walked around the wall and over to Pudding. She jumped off the wall, landing in front of me.

"A secret mission?" I asked.

"Yeah, you wanna join?" she asked energetically.

"I stopped playing secret mission when I was you age." I laughed.

"Playing?" Pudding sounded insulted, "I'm seriously on a secret mission. Plus I stopped playing secret mission when I was ten." A year ago? So she beat me by a year.

"So what's your secret mission?" I crossed my arms, cocking an eyebrow.

Pudding looked down the sidewalk and gasped. "Move!" she pushed me around the wall again. For an eleven year old she was pretty strong because she pushed me down instead of around the wall.

"Ow, Pudding!" I yelled angrily at her and crawled behind the wall all the way.

"Shhh," she hushed me and peeped around the wall, "They're coming."

"They?" I sat up against the brick wall and rubbed my scraped knee. That was what I got for wearing ripped-at-the-knee jeans.

"Mint and Masaya." Pudding replied.

"Why are you spying on them?" I asked.

"Cause," she started and then stopped, "I dunno." She finished with a shrug.

I glared at her and stood up, "Pudding, ever consider this was a waste of your valuable time?"

"I'm a kid, I play around and eat what do you expect me to do? Have a hot date?" she eyed me a second, "And this is coming from the girl who just sits up on any random brick wall?"

"I was walking before that," I said in a pathetic tone.

"Ichigo is that you?" A voice behind the wall asked. I bit the inside of my cheek and looked around the wall.

"Hey guy's." I waved and smiled sheepishly.

"What are you doing?" Masaya asked in his usual calm tone. He unhooked his arm from around Mint's waist and grabbed her hand instead. I ignored that as my cheeks started to heat up. _"Don't be jealous. Don't be jealous." _I told myself.

"Talking to, uh Pudding." I pointed my thumb behind the wall.

Mint and Masaya walked in front of me and looked behind the wall, "Pudding?" Mint asked.

"Yeah Pudding." I turned around. Oh god! I gasped softly. She was gone! Damn her, damn her to…

"Ichigo, do you have an imaginary friend?" Masaya asked slowly and in a mocking way. Mint giggled and elbowed Masaya.

I blushed, "_No!_ And even if I did I wouldn't name it after Pudding."

"Oh Ichigo, he was only kidding." Mint laughed. Masaya looked away and whistled. Mint elbowed him again and they both laughed. Boy, they were a pain in the neck. Before you know it they would want me to come up with a cute nickname for them. Like "M&M" or "The Double M Couple" something with their initials. Mint and Masaya stopped laughing and turned towards me.

"Okay, we'll see you later. And I'll see you at work. Tell Pudding I said hi!" Mint giggled and Masaya wrapped his arm around her waist again.

"Bye Ichigo." Masaya said in a singsong voice. I glared at the back of their heads as they walked away. How annoying!

"Phew that was close." Pudding walked around the brick wall.

"Where were you?" I asked angrily.

"I jumped the wall at the last second. Boy was that good or what?" Pudding laughed, "They didn't notice me at all."

"Pudding, sometimes you're nothing but a nuisance." I mumbled and started walking back home.

"Hey! Hey! Wait for me!" Pudding called after me and chased me down.

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… Work had always been a big thing for me. My mom said it was a responsibility and she felt like I should stick to it. But then again, whenever I asked for money from my mom she would laugh and say, "You have a job, get the money there." And not to mention work was also like a research center for the Mew Mew's powers. 

I set my head down on the round table and moaned. I was tired. Again. I was working. Again. I always used to think my life was going to be the same old 'again'. Like every morning I was going to get up, go to school, go to work, deal with Ryou's nagging, fight crazy alien monsters, and oh yeah, try to get Masaya to love me.

My life, I thought was going to be the same thing everyday. That was until the Mew Mew's defeated Deep Blue and Kish, Pie, and Tart left. Then Masaya and I broke up. I wondered if it was out of revenge or desperation maybe that he went to Mint. (Not to mean that in a mean way!) But they seemed happy together and I was happy for them. Until I realized they were becoming really close and more close around me. It surprised me that Zakuro, Lettuce, and Pudding never seemed as _disgusted_ in them together as I was. That was probably because whenever I was with Mint, Masaya showed up. Then the handholding and the casual kiss on the lips came. Just like that, as I crossed my arms and shook my head! They didn't even notice I was alive when they were together. That was where the same old saying, _'Everything and everyone in the room seemed to disappear when we were together'_ came from.

"Ichigo," A calm voice called and shook my shoulder lightly. I exhaled a long breath and sat up. I must've been thinking for a while because my head stuck to the table as I started to sit back up.

"Ow!" I grumbled and I rubbed my forehead.

I turned and looked up at Ryou. He raised his eyebrows and sneered, "Work is over and your forehead is all red."

"Thanks for the information." I spat angrily and stood up. I was kind of in a bad mood.

"Are you okay?" Ryou asked.

"I'm fine." I said almost shakily, still rubbing my forehead.

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

"Yes Ryou, I'm sure." I said through my teeth.

"Okay, whatever then." He started to walk away. I sighed; I shouldn't take it out on him.

"Ryou, I'm sorry." I apologized.

He turned around and grinned, "Nah, don't be. You worked late today so it's no wonder you're kind of in a bad mood."

"No, it's not the work." I went to the closet and took out my jacket.

"Oh really?" Ryou sat down in a chair.

"It's Mint." I threw my hands up in the air and let them drop to my sides. Remember when I thought my luck was really turning around? Yeah that was yesterday, today though I woke up with aches all over my back from the fall. I went to school and totally forgot about my test in English. I didn't get out of class early to go to work because I needed to retake the test. To make up for being an hour late to work I had to work late. It's 8:01 PM now. My mom, I'm sure was expecting me to come home to dinner early tonight. Well it's too late for that now.

"What happened this time?" Ryou asked.

_"I was thinking again." _I thought. Like I was going to tell that to Ryou. Though our friendship, I had to admit was deepening he was still same old Ryou and I knew his insults.

"Nothing." I responded and sat down in the chair on the opposite side of Ryou.

"So what's the problem then." Ryou rocked back in the chair like he always did and stared up at the ceiling, relaxing his neck.

"I…I don't know." I stuttered and folded my arms on the table.

"Huh?" Ryou looked up at me, "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Uh, I don't."

"Ichigo," Ryou gave off a soft smirk, "I think you're jealous."

That hit me like a rock. It was almost worst then when he told me he didn't like me. But I wasn't jealous! I just hated the fact that my best friend was dating my ex and now I never saw her. I had the right to hate that! I had the right to tell Mint I hated Masaya sometimes. I had the right to tell her that I was angry that I never saw her. I had the right to…

"I am so not jealous!" I retorted, standing up from the table.

"You're not? Then what's your problem with Mint?" Ryou leaned forward in his chair.

"I never see my best friend! She's off with _him_. And when I do see Mint, you know what she does? As soon as I leave, she makes plans with him again! I call and the phone line is busy. I instant message her and her away message is on. I see her randomly on the streets and there he is! Right there with his wonderful tanned arm around her skinny little waist!" I gave a good long look at Ryou. He stared right back.

After a moment he cracked a grin, "Sounds like jealousy to me."

"Ugh!" I groaned angrily and turned around heading out the door. A light rain pattered on the sidewalk. I meant to leave before the rain really started. I stepped out on the sidewalk and pulled up my hood.

"Ichigo." Ryou called my name and caught me by the arm.

"What? I have to leave." I said and started to jerk my arm away.

"Why don't you give this jealousy thing a break?" his hair was dripping with water. What was he even asking?

"Huh?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Why don't you let Mint and Masaya have their fun?" He gave a funny look.

"What?" I still wasn't getting what he was asking.

"You're upset that you don't ever get to see Mint because she's with Masaya, right?" he asked. I nodded and he went on, "Then why don't you start hanging out with Zakuro, Pudding, or Lettuce?" he suggested.

"Because they have their own plans as well." I stated.

"Then," he was silent for a second, "Why don't _we_ do something together?"

He slowly let go of my arm and I stared at the soaked boy, "Us?" I asked, "Together?"

He nodded, "As friends. It was just a suggestion since you don't have all your friends around that often. If you don't want to that's…"

"No, Ryou it's fine. I just never thought about really going somewhere with you before. But, I'd love to." I grinned.

He rose his eyebrows, unsure of my answer, "What would you like to do?"

"Huh? Oh, um I normally do anything my friends want to do so why don't you choose?" I seriously hadn't even taken in the fact that Ryou had just wanted to do something together, let alone think of a _nice thing_ we could do together.

He smiled, "I'll call you on it later?"

"Sure." A raindrop slid down my cheek. I wiped it away and looked up at Ryou's face. He was soaked! His blond hair dangled in strands and stuck to his forehead. His clothes were damp and hung on his shoulders.

"Ryou you're all wet!" I laughed.

"Huh?" he looked down at himself and shrugged, "Oh, yeah uh, I'll walk you home if you need me too."

"I think I'll be fine but you better go inside." I pointed at the café.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah I guess so. Have a nice night." He waved and headed up the steps.

I watched him leave for a second and turned to leave myself when I whirled back around and yelled, "Ryou!"

"Yeah?" he turned around, holding onto the door.

I ran up to him and plowed into his chest, embracing him. He seemed shocked for a second but finally wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back.

"Thank you so much for helping me." I mumbled into his warm chest.

We all have to start somewhere in forgetting and learning to move forward without regretting. I have to learn to not be envious of my best friend and ex boyfriend and to make new friends. Ryou is my starting point.

_…To be continued…

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A/N: Well this chapter was completely pointless…I'm sorry, this really sucked. It was kind of poorly written and I apologize for that. I had absolutely no plot line for this chapter, just to get Ryou and Ichigo together.Yeah, well school is starting for me tomorrow so it's going to be a little harder to update but I promise I will try my best. So now Ichigo has learned to start with something or someone new. Hearts are broken but can be repaired. Masaya wants to be Ichigo's friend again but what if he wants more then that? This idea may change, but I don't know yet. It's all in the next chapter, until then- KTHM 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the wait. Thanks again all my reviewers for supporting my story. Well, just like my last chapter I had some difficulty starting this chapter since it was Ryou's point of view. I also changed the idea around so, yeah it's a little different from what I had in the last chapter. Ryou has no idea on where he's really going to take Ichigo for their date, but a movie at the café doesn't sound so shabby either. What could possibly happen on a movie night? The Masaya idea from the last chapter will be in the next chapter. (More info at the bottom.) Here you go!

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMM, The Notebook, or any other movies. But I do own the movie, "When Hearts Collide"

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_…Chapter six Ryou's POV…_

"Ouch!" I murmured and shook my hand, hoping the pain would leave. Another paper cut I presumed and examined my right forefinger, laying down the piece of paper. It was a bright red but no blood had left the small cut on the tip of my finger. I sighed, staring down at the piles of paper that laid scattered all over my bed. I knew I shouldn't have done this but to be perfectly honest, I had absolutely no idea on where I was going to take Ichigo on our so-called date.

This may sound ridiculous but I had actually done research on where to take her. The papers that were scattered all over my bed were actually places I thought might be interesting to go. I picked up another sheet of paper and named off the places that were listed, "The Zoo. The aquarium. Horse-back riding." Were a few, "So I guess taking girls to anything that involves animals is _fun_?" I asked myself.

_KNOCK!_ Someone tapped lightly on my door. "What?" I answered. Keiichiro opened the door, smiling. He shifted the small mug in is hand and entered all the way.

"Your tea." He handed me the cup. I stared down at the light brown liquid for a minute. "Ryou," Keiichiro picked up one of the papers. It was a flyer for the amusement park. He read some of the attractions and grinned. He gave me this suspicious look and waved the paper in his hand, "Are you planning on going somewhere?"

I blushed, "Yeah."

"Oh really?" Keiichiro chuckled softly, "With who?"

I blushed again. I hated blushing. It made me seem so vulnerable, "Someone." I replied, taking the mug and chugging down some of the bitter liquid. Keiichiro didn't put anything in it, I guessed.

"Does this certain someone happen to be one of our employees that is pretty cute, clumsy, and has red hair?" Keiichiro asked playfully.

"Yeah," I looked down at one of the papers, pretending not to hear, "That one." I mumbled. Keiichiro began laughing. I blushed more but hid it with the sheet of paper.

"Ryou's going out with Ichigo." Keiichiro sang and danced out of the room.

"I AM NOT!" I yelled as soon he was out of my room. I got up and slammed the door, crossing my arms. A small pout was spread across my face and I shook my head. I was not going out with Ichigo; I was just going on a date. It's not the same thing. I mean, I can go on a date with Lettuce but we wouldn't be going out.

I felt something warm run down my hand and I looked at my finger. It was bleeding. It must have been from the paper cut from earlier. I pressed my forefinger to my thumb, stopping the bleeding for the moment. I opened the door and headed down the hallway to the bathroom. Washing the blood off my hand, I opened the medicine cabinet and took out a Band-Aid.

The door to the bathroom burst opened and Keiichiro poked his head in. The look of laughter was still spread across his face. He smiled real big at me and pretended not to know I was in here, "Oh Ryou, I did not realize that this very bathroom was occupied." He said, his expression changed to shock. What an idiot!

"I'm done with it." I replied, wiping my finger dry and then wrapping a band-aid around it.

"Yes, well I really didn't need to use the bathroom but I have some wonderful news." He smiled again. I hung around him too much to know that he was quite a smiley guy. But this smile was creeping me out a little.

"Um, let me guess, you just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico?" Ha! I made a funny. I seriously needed to stop watching those dumbass commercials.

Keiichiro gave a dumbstruck look and shook his head, "Um no. But, I'm leaving tonight and I wont be home until tomorrow morning. So I'll see you later and have a nice time tonight." He threw me the keys to the café, "Bye." He turned and left.

_"How was that wonderful news?"_ I wondered and watched him start to walk out of the café with a small suitcase in his hands. He turned and waved at me. I waved back from the top of the stairs and he trotted out the door, with one of his wide smiles on his face. Just what was he inquiring about tonight. My face twisted into a disgusted look and I left, retiring back to my bedroom.

* * *

… An hour had past and I shifted through more papers, pondering on what to do. I stared at the laptop screen and read over date ideas. I must have had issues to be actually taking this so seriously. It was just Ichigo! I was asking her to hang out for a while not to marry me. I typed a couple more words on the keyboard and pressed search. I clicked on a website that appealed to me most and read what it had printed down. _'For a simple and nice date, a movie is always the best way to go.' _

"A movie," I asked myself and thought about it. It would be nice to just chill out at the café for a while and then maybe we could go out for pizza or something simple. I nodded, that plan might work out pretty well, especially with the weather pretty bad. It wasn't necessarily terrible, but the weather was looking a little bad. Wind shook the trees, while small gray clouds spotted the sky with anticipation of a light rain.

I cleaned up my room and got dressed for the day. When the time was right, I called Ichigo and told her the plans. She had no problem with them and said she would be over in an hour. The real dilemma now was what movie to watch. Whoa, I had totally no clue what to watch! I looked down at the DVD case I had and browsed through some of the videos.

_"The Notebook"_- A sappy romance? I set it back in the case and frowned. That wasn't mine!

_"The Exorcist"_- A horror movie? It might be a little too scary for Ichigo.

_"Scary Movie 2"_- A comedy? Well what if Ichigo thinks it's a little disgusting? That's attractive.

_"War Of The Worlds"_- An action movie? Spooky in yet action like. Ichigo might get bored and/or freaked out.

Either one of these movies worked. But I didn't take any chances. I'd just wait until Ichigo got here to pick out a movie. In the mean time, I mind as well call and see if there were any close pizza places open. I was fine at first as I walked down the stairs to the café. Then I really started thinking. I was actually going on a date with Ichigo. Yeah, sure I was fine about it, but that was just the problem, _I was_ _fine about it!_ I normally would've been asking myself if I was out of my mind.

Ichigo was my rival but now I was asking her on dates and going on walks with her in the rain. My face started to heat up and my heart rate sped up. What was my deal? I shook my head and pushed away the thought of me liking her. I just wanted some things to change. We needed to grow up and stop acting like we used to. I picked up the phone that hung on the wall and flipped through the phone book I brought down with me. I leaned on the wall and started to dial a number.

"Ryou?" A voice asked as it entered the café. I looked up at Ichigo. She smiled happily. I smiled back welcomingly and got off of the wall.

"You're early." I mentioned as she took off her black sweater and hung it in the closet.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I was kind of kicked out of the house. My parents are having some company over," Ichigo laughed, "So what movie are we watching?"

"Um, well about that," I rubbed the back of my head, "I wasn't sure which one we were going to watch so I decided, why don't you pick one out?"

* * *

…Ichigo stared down at the movies in my room and pressed her finger to her lips, trying to decide. "Hmmm," She reached for a movie. I sat on my bed, fiddling with the TV remote. 

"How about this one?" She asked pulling out a movie I didn't even recognize.

"What's it about?" I examined the cover as Ichigo turned the DVD around to read the back. _"'When Hearts Collide'. What the hell?" _I wondered, snickering at the lame title.

"I think it's a romance. When did you get this movie?" Ichigo looked up at me.

I shrugged, "It's not mine. I've never seen it before. It might be Keiichiro's…" Oh Keiichiro! This was his dirty little plan wasn't it? Damn him, damn him to…

"I think it looks cute. It's about a girl and a boy who absolutely hate each other then one day a wizard comes and forces them to love each other for the sake of the world. Soon, when the spell wears off they learn to like each other." Ichigo explained.

"Sounds like a chick flick." I replied.

Ichigo gave that weird grin that creeped me out, like Keiichiro, "I have a little idea." She sat up on my bed, still smiling.

"Oh really?" My gaze shifted away from hers.

"Yeah, I'm daring you." Ichigo said slyly.

"To do what?" I asked, my gaze still not catching hers.

"I dare you to get through this movie and if you do, I'll buy the pizza." Ichigo leaned closer to me.

"I don't think so. It's going to be filled with girly romance and I'm not really into that stuff." I scratched the side of my head.

"Oh come on, free pizza." Ichigo urged.

"No." I said simply.

"Chicken." Ichigo taunted.

"Am not." I protested.

"Are too." Ichigo poked me in my shoulder.

"Am not." I argued.

"Are too." She argued back.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Fine I'll do the stupid dare, but you have to promise if I get through this movie that I can order whatever I want on the pizza." I crossed my arms.

"Deal." Ichigo agreed and held out her hand. I started to shake it but she squeezed it hard, pulling me close to her face, "_But_ if you don't get through this movie, you will be forced to watch every chick flick with me for the rest of the week." Then she shook my hand.

"Wait, I didn't agree on that." I stared at my hand.

"Too late, you shook on it." Ichigo laughed, kneeling down to the DVD player. She opened it and set the silver disk in its place. I sighed and pressed the play button on the remote. Rolling her eyes, Ichigo mentioned, "It's not going to be that bad." Yeah right.

About half way through the movie my eye began to twitch. This movie…it…it was so disgusting. No, not disgusting, disturbing was more like it! We were right in the part where the girl, who I didn't even catch her name, was going to give up her life to save the guy or something like that. But he kept telling her not too.

I looked over at Ichigo. She was hugging her knees to her chest, while tears were held back in her eyes. I rolled my eyes but then gave a sympathetic smile, "Ichigo, are you going to be alright?" I asked and elbowed her in the arm.

"_No!_" she sniffed while tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her expression changed dramatically and she hid her face in her knees, sobbing.

"Hey," I said softly and leaned towards her, putting my hand on her shoulder, "What wrong?"

"This movie…is _so sad._" She cried.

I wanted to tell her that it really wasn't. That the movie, first off had some terrible acting and it was going to end with a happy ending. I mean this wasn't Shakespeare, it wasn't going to end up like Romeo and Juliet, with both of them dieing in the ending. But, I guess girls were sensitive like that. (A/N: It's true, we are! At least most of us are.)

"It's okay." I cooed, "Everything will be okay in the ending."

"Yeah, b-but it's not okay right now." Ichigo mumbled, her face still buried in her knees.

"You're going to miss the good parts if you keep crying like that." I shook her shoulder lightly, "It's going to be fine."

"Really?" Ichigo looked up at me and wiped her eyes.

"Really." I smiled.

"Ha! I can't believe you fell for that!" Ichigo laughed pointing. That was uncalled for. I cocked an eyebrow and gave that same dumbfounded look Keiichiro had earlier. Ichigo giggled and laughed still pointing at me. I didn't get it!

"What kind of stupid trick was that?" I yelled.

She stopped laughing a second and eyed me, "I just wanted to know your reaction. Anyways, that was fun. Let's go get that pizza now." Ichigo hopped off the bed.

"That was not fun. It was stupid." I grumbled, getting off the bed as well.

Ichigo ignored my comment and stretched out her arms, "Have any good pizza places in mind?"

"Just the one down the street." I responded, following her out of my room.

"That sounds good. Let's check out that place and go from there." Ichigo opened the closet and grabbed her jacket. She opened the door to start heading out, but rain poured down and made huge puddles in from of the café.

"Its raining." She stated.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Guess we're eating in." I suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess so." She threw off her jacket and shrugged as well, "I'm thinking maybe, Chinese or Thai?"

* * *

… I could have sworn that pizza would have been a good idea. Ichigo picked up her chopsticks and twirled them around on her finger then poked at the orange chicken on her plate. The movie that we popped in this time was nothing that I recognized either. Something about cars, I think I got it when I was younger. Though, I didn't pick it out. Ichigo chewed on the chicken then looked up at me, "What?" she asked, her cheeks turning pink. 

I swallowed and looked away. I didn't mean to stare at her. I shook my head and looked down at the plate of food I had, "It's nothing."

"No really." Ichigo said with her eyebrows raised, "Is there something on my face?"

"No. I uh, I was just staring." I replied honestly and looked down at my food again.

"No way!" Ichigo hollered. I didn't think she'd take it in such a surprising way. I was just looking.

"Huh?" I looked back up at her. She was staring at the TV as a red car raced by on the screen. Ichigo glared at the television set and shook her fist, "That guy was so cheating." She yelled again. I smiled and laughed quietly to myself. She was still young and naive. But that was why I liked her.

"That was so stupid." Ichigo leaned up against the bedpost with her arms crossed. I yawned and set the food on the floor. I wasn't bored, just a little tired. It was still early but something was making me a little tired. Maybe it was because I stayed up all morning looking up date ideas or maybe because I didn't sleep to well last night. I leaned against the other end of the bed and pulled my arms behind my head. I shut my eyes and dozed a minute. Then I felt something on my chest. I quickly opened my eyes and stared down at what it was.

"Ichigo?" I asked, noticing her red hair.

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"You okay?" I asked and stroked her hair.

"Just…a little tired." She murmured again.

"But you were just up bouncing around a minute ago." I yawned.

"That was about an hour ago, Ryou. You slept for a while." Ichigo's voice trailed off and her breathing began deep and long.

"Really?" I asked.

"Uh-huh." She breathed slowly.

I grew tired again and my eyes began to droop. They soon slowly shut, but Ichigo woke me again.

"You never got through that movie." She mentioned.

"Eh?" I inhaled deeply.

"You owe me a week of sappy chick flicks." Then she was out and asleep on my chest. That was unfair! She was the one who didn't finish the movie. I yawned once more and my eyes began to shut. The only sound there was was of the rain hitting the window. Silence and sleeping beauty on my chest, a guy could get used to this.

_…To be continued…

* * *

_

A/N: 8 pages! Whoo, a new record. Thank you everybody for supporting my story so much! I love you all! Anyways, sorry for such a long wait. Finals are coming up and I had a lot of homework during the week so, once again sorry. Now, onto the story. Ryou has finally realized that he has some type of feelings for Ichigo; he just needs to figure out what to do with them. Ichigo is still working on her jealousy but Masaya ends up getting a class with Ichigo at school. He wants them to be friends but what if he wants more then that and how will Ryou react? What about Mint?It's all in the next chapter! Until then- KTHM 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait. Thank you my reviewers. I'm sorry to hear that some of you were despising this chapter just because of the Masaya part. Ooh! Anyways on to my idea. Ryou has finally realized that he has some type of feelings for Ichigo; he just needs to figure out what to do with them. Ichigo takes a trip down memory road. And while Ichigo is still working on her jealousy, Masaya ends up getting a class with her at school. He wants them to be friends but what if he wants more then that and how will Ryou react?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

* * *

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…_Chapter seven, Ichigo's POV…_

The lake rippled whenever a slight breeze blew across it. Some of the ducks that lived by the lake scrambled to my feet as I threw breadcrumbs. Next to me Mint stayed quiet and watched me intently. I wasn't sure if she was zoning but I ignored her until I was done throwing the bread to the ducks. After a minute I turned and looked at Mint, "What's up?" I asked. She sighed, pulled the collar of her coat closer to her neck, and walked to the bench that we always sat on in front of the lake. Resting on it, she buried her face into her hands.

_"Did I do something wrong?"_ I wondered and sat next to Mint. She wouldn't look at me when I set my hand on her shoulder, "You okay?" I asked. She sighed again and brought her head up, but still didn't look at me. The gray sky made the atmosphere uncomfortable but I still watched my best friend waiting for her reply. Mint stared at the lake and finally spoke.

"If I tell you something will you get mad? I just want to know." Mint asked

This confused me a moment. I shook my head with my eyebrows raised, "You can tell me anything and I wont get mad." I promised her.

Mint looked a little bit relieved and leaned back in the bench. She still stared ahead at the lake, "I have a crush on someone."

"Yeah?" I said in a still listening voice. I leaned forward on the bench and swung my legs back and forth impatiently. That was becoming a bad habit but I ignored it even though I knew it bugged Mint. She thought it was improper and told me often that I should act like a young woman, not a mere child who was bored.

"Yes, but here is the part that I am a bit worried about." Mint paused and folded her hands on her lap, "The person I like is someone you used to love dearly."

"It's okay. I wont get mad." I reassured her. Mint turned her head and looked at me.

Her face tensed a bit but she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I have feelings for Masaya."…

* * *

… My eyelids shot open but as the light poured into the room, my eyes became sensitive and I squinted. Yawning, I tried to take in my surroundings. _"Odd."_ I thought as my eyes wandered around the small room, _"I don't remember falling asleep in a different room."_ That's when it hit me that this wasn't any room, it was Ryou's room. I sat up immediately and ignored the blankets that were twisted around my body. When I fell asleep last night, I remembered I fell asleep on something warm and soft but solid. That was Ryou's chest. I blushed deeply and stared down at the blond boy. 

He slept quietly, with his head nodded off to the side, resting on his shoulder. It surprised me that he found it comfortable that I, the girl who was heavier then she looked, was sleeping on his chest all night long. I turned and looked at the clock behind me. _"8:30 AM" _it blinked in bright red numbers.

"Damn," I cursed softly and swung my legs over the side of the bed. The blankets fell off my shoulders and landed on my thighs. Shaking them off, I stood up. I was about to run home, but someone caught me by the arm. I whirled around, startled and stared into the eyes of my own boss.

"Ryou?" I breathed. My cheeks reddened and I couldn't believe how close I was to his face. Ryou gave me a stern look then slowly released my arm. I backed away and went to the door.

"Leaving so soon?" Ryou asked and sat up in the bed. He pulled the blankets off his body and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I…I can't stay." I said, shaking my head. Ryou remained expressionless; he just stood up and walked next to me.

"What's the occasion?" He asked, setting his left arm on the wall next to my head. "_Is he blocking me from leaving or is he stretching?" _I wondered and stared at his arm.

"No occasion," I explained shaking my head, "I have school." Ryou pulled his arm away from the wall and nodded. He walked to the door and smiled.

"Shall I escort you?" He asked.

It took me a minute to realize what he asked me but when I finally got it I responded quickly, "I don't want to cause a burden."

"Why?" Ryou lifted a blond eyebrow, "You already are one."

I frowned. He was still such a jerk. I crossed my arms and looked away from him, "I'll just walk."

"In the rain?" asked Ryou, pointing at the window. I turned around and watched as raindrops hit the window and slid down it. The gray clouds made it seem dark out and I sighed. It was obviously going to rain a lot this winter.

"Yes in the rain." I replied, still with my arms crossed.

"You're so stubborn." Ryou said in an annoyed tone.

"And you're a jerk." I snapped back. He shrugged and leaned on the doorframe.

"If you have school, are you going to walk home first and get you're uniform, which will cause you to be even more late then you are? Or are you going to go straight to detention for not being dressed out properly?" He asked.

"_Oh my god!"_ I thought panicky but refused to show it. _"I forgot about the uniform. My teachers are going to be furious. I am going to be in so much trouble when mom and dad find out. They are going to ground me for life!" _I let my arms fall to my sides and I whispered, "What am I going to do?"

"I can either give you a ride to your house, like originally planned and you can grab your belongings then I'll take you to school. Or you can get into trouble. Personally, I'd choose the first one, only because I'd hate to see my grades slip for missing class." Ryou explained. I guess I had no choice in the matter.

"Fine, I'll go with you." I mumbled. Ryou grinned and ran his hand over my head, ruffling my hair. "That's my girl." He said. He walked out of the room and down the hallway, whistling merrily. I bet it was because he was once again, right.

I stood there in the middle of Ryou's room, take-out plates and boxes scattered around my feet, while I pondered the words that were just released from his mouth. _"That's my girl?"_ I thought. What did he mean by that?

"Heh." I laughed quietly and pressed my cold hands to my face, making the burning sensation go away. I obviously was blushing again…

* * *

…Ryou had always been a stuck up, rich, snobby boy. He had money but I rarely saw him use it. His bedroom was small when he could probably afford to enlarge it. I never saw him in expensive clothing. So I always wondered if he ever _did_ buy anything expensive. When I noticed he never did I just assumed he didn't want to spend his money but… 

"I stand corrected, Ryou." I mumbled and stared in awe. Ryou pressed the button and unlocked his car then looked at me. He followed my gaze to what I was looking at and nodded.

"Yeah, I had it especially painted." Ryou smiled and put his hands on his waist, "Just for her." Now there were times when I would've suspected that Ryou would buy something extremely expensive like a car or maybe a boat and that's why I never saw them. But no, what Ryou and I were staring at was a painting. Not just any painting though, a beautiful painting of a blond woman. The woman was wearing a long pink silk dress. It was the back of her, but her head was turned at an angle so that we could at least see the side of her face. She was beautiful even though I couldn't see all of her. The painting was done in watercolor, which made the white, yellow, and red roses at the bottom seem like a dream.

"W-why do you keep it in the garage?" I asked. I wasn't sure if that was going to offend him in any way but I needed to ask. It was hanging on a bare wall in the garage. If I were Ryou, I would've put it out in the café for everybody to see. Why did he hide in the back of the café, in the garage with his car and tools?

"Because I work out here a lot," Ryou explained, "And whenever I came out here the room would seem dreary and lonely. So one day I took it out of the hallway and added the picture to that bare wall just to see if it would lighten up the place. And it did so I kept it out here." He smiled, almost beamed at the picture. He must've loved that woman dearly. She was young so I assumed it was someone he still knew.

I looked down at the floor while my cheeks turned red, "So, uh, do you love this person?" I kicked at a little pebble.

"Yes, very much!" Ryou responded happily. When Mint told me that she had feelings for Masaya I felt like something had come crashing down on my body. I hated to admit it but, it had only been a couple of months since Masaya and I broke up, so I still felt like he was _my_ Masaya. The fact that yet another girl had taken interest in Masaya made me sad or mad, either one of the two.

But crushes didn't stay forever. They had to at some point die and wither away. That was why when Mint told me of her feelings I congratulated her, telling her that she had picked a very wonderful guy to fall in love with. She had corrected me quickly; telling me that they were feelings for Masaya, not love. Deep down in side, I smirked knowing that those feelings would never grow. They would die and whither away.

When Ryou told me that he loved this woman deeply though, that feeling of crashing came upon me once again and I turned away from Ryou. I would've done something stupid, like ran out into the rain and all the way home but the terrifying voice of my principle yelling at me rang through my ears. I needed to stay with Ryou.

"Well let's get going." Ryou suggested and opened up the passenger door. I slid in and from that point I stayed silent. Ryou didn't talk either, he just dropped me off at home and I went and got my stuff. As I opened the door, there was a note.

"_Hey Ichigo Honey, _

_Daddy and I are going with those friends who came over yesterday to go look at the new offices in a different town. We wont be back until tomorrow night so no wild parties and no leaving the house. Call me sweetie. I love you very much. _

_-Mom" _

"_She must've written that yesterday when her friends came over."_ I assumed and walked into the house. I ran upstairs quickly and grabbed a uniform from my closet. I ran back downstairs and out the door to Ryou's car again. The rain poured down on the sidewalk and I was careful not to slip. But as I looked up at Ryou's car, he was talking to someone. I could see the green umbrella propped up over the car. I stopped walking and watched while not taking notice to the rain that was wetting my uniform and me. Ryou laughed and waved as the person with the green umbrella began to leave. It was a blond girl who was probably about a year older than me. She ran across the street and onto the sidewalk.

That must've been the girl in the painting. All those times I was jealous of Mint and Masaya could never compete with this feeling of jealousy. I was jealous of that girl now. _"Why?" _I wondered and carelessly began walking back to the car. I was glad it was raining at the moment because hot tears began to roll down my cheeks.

* * *

… It was about half a year ago around spring when Mint came running up to me out of nowhere. She was breathing hard as she stopped in front of my house. I was playing with a soccer ball when I noticed her gasping from the lack of air. I was so worried for her. Her driver wasn't anywhere around so I assumed the worst. 

"What's wrong?" I asked and grabbed onto her shoulders, trying to get her to gain air. Mint shook her head while inhaling large amounts of air.

"Mint, what happened?" I asked again.

"Something...Masaya." Mint gasped.

"Masaya?" I repeated. Slowly I wondered if Masaya had hurt Mint or touched her. Mint nodded and brought up her head. I suspected there to be tears in her eyes but she didn't look sad at all. She was smiling and then snickered a little.

"What happened?" I asked again but with a less worry tone.

"Masaya asked me out!" Mint laughed, "He wants to be with me. I ran all the way here to tell you!"…

… Going back on that memory, I could've been jealous of Mint _and _Masaya all along. It was because then they had each other. Mint had someone to turn to and so did Masaya. They were together and happy. I felt alone and with no one there to turn to. The feeling of jealousy that I experienced when I saw that girl with Ryou was beyond envy, it was almost hatred. _"Why?"_ I wondered. No, I didn't need to wonder any more. I was in love with Ryou. There was no denying any longer that I didn't feel something for Ryou. But when I saw that he loved that girl I felt alone once more.

The car honked and I looked up to see Ryou waving his hand at me, "You're going to be even more late." He shouted.

I nodded and started walking to the car, but my carelessness got to me and I stepped in what I thought was a puddle. It was more of a small hole in the sidewalk filled with water. I slipped and fell backwards, hitting my head on the sidewalk. Everything went dark for a moment and I wondered if I had blacked out.

"Ichigo?" Someone called my voice. I must've only been knocked out for a few seconds, because I wasn't inside anything and it was still raining.

"Ow!" I mumbled and opened my eyes. Ryou was staring down at me with his eyebrows raised.

"You alright?" He asked.

"I slipped." I stated and rubbed my head. When I rubbed my head I felt something soft and I noticed I was lying on Ryou's lap.

"Yeah, I know." Ryou kind of laughed. I smiled and sat up all the way. When I looked up at Ryou, my heart began to pound in my chest. Ryou's wet hair stuck to his forehead while raindrops slid down his cheeks. He looked just like he had the night he asked me out.

"What's wrong?" Ryou swiped a piece of wet red hair that dangled in front of my face.

"It…hurts." I murmured.

"Your head?" Ryou asked and offered his hand to help me up. I grasped it and he pulled me up. I rubbed the back of my head and then shook it. It felt fine but it was my heart that was hurting. My chest tightened and it stung to even look at Ryou. I quickly turned away from him and picked up my uniform. It was wet but it would probably dry by the time we got to school.

"Ichigo?" Ryou asked.

I turned around, "Yeah?"

"I…uh…I really…I really think we get you to school." Ryou finished and walked to the car. He started it up and I slid in on the passenger side. The rainwater dripped off my body and landed on the floor of the car. Ryou pulled away from the sidewalk and down the rode to my school. The silence was beginning to kill me so I gathered some nerve and finally asked, "So, who's the girl in the painting?" I was trying to ask politely but it came out in a jealous and cocky tone.

"Why are you suddenly wondering?" Ryou asked and drove around a corner. We were almost to my school.

"I just wanted to know?" I sneered. That came out all wrong too. I was beginning to sound like a real bitch.

"Is it a big deal?" Ryou pulled up to the school.

"Yes," I blurted out. Oops! That wasn't supposed to come out either.

"Why?" Ryou turned off the engine and turned to me.

"Because…never mind." I started then stopped, unbuckling my seat belt.

"Seriously, why?" Ryou asked again.

"You don't want to know." I assured him

"Yes I do." Was he starting to argue with me?

I gave him a funky glare and started with the most arrogant voice I could ever conjure up, "Okay, since you really want to know, I'll tell you. I have to worst jealousy problems in the world. I used to be jealous of my best friend because she had a boyfriend. But she didn't just have any boyfriend, she had _my _ex-boyfriend. I was jealous because of that reason. I shouldn't have even cared then. But I did. I cared because I still had feelings for him and she took him away. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was also jealous because Masaya took Mint away from me. She was my best friend and I never saw her. So really, I was jealous of both of them."

Ryou looked surprised but he remained silent waiting until I got it all out. I went on, "Oh, so I was jealous of the perfect little couple. I would've killed to have those two split apart. I envied them both so much but that was until you told me to knock it off. And I did, I stopped being so jealous of them. I knew that one way or another they wouldn't break up just for my selfish wishes. Then I realized I envied someone even more than Mint and Masaya. I envy the girl you are in love with. You know why I envy her? Because I love you!" I turned away from Ryou and opened the car door, running towards the school gates.

I ran past those and to the front doors where I fell to my knees, sobbing. I stared at the doors while tears rolled down m cheeks. _"Why is this happening to me?" _I thought and rubbed my eyes. Everything seemed to go from bad to worse for the past week. I stopped crying and stood up, inhaling a deep breath.

"You know you shouldn't run off like that in the rain," Ryou said from behind me, "you could slip and bump your head." I rubbed my eyes but still stared in front of me.

"It's like whatever I do, something always goes wrong." I sighed, "I mean I never meant to be jealous of Mint and Masaya. Ever since they started dating everything seemed to fall apart. It was just they had each other and I felt like I had no one so I took it out on them. Then there was that day when I thought you had feelings for me so I asked you and…and things just felt all wrong. It was like nothing was going to go my way."

"Yeah?" Ryou said.

"Yeah," I laughed sadly, "Everyone wants something but they don't know what that something is."

"I know what I want." Ryou said.

I laughed sadly again and turned around, "Yeah? And what is that? That girl?"

"That girl in the picture was my mother, Ichigo." Ryou said smiling. Oh! Had I been so wrong? I frowned and shook my head feeling stupid.

"The other girl was a customer who came by and picked up a cake the other day. She recognized me so she came to the car to thank me. She loved it." Ryou stood in the pouring rain shaking his head. I felt like an idiot.

"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." I apologized, "And I'm sorry for being so envious towards you."

"You don't need to be sorry. The girl you should be envious of is someone you know quite well." Ryou said and stepped closer to me.

"I know her?" I asked and looked up at him, my heart pounding at a thousand miles per hour.

"Yes you do." He nodded.

"Who?" I asked.

"You." He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine…

* * *

… I quickly changed in the locker room into my uniform. It was still damp but I would live. I ran down the hallways carrying my books in my arms. Turning a corner, I didn't realize there was someone there. I slammed right into the person, dropping my books. 

"I'm so sorry." I apologized picking up my books.

"Ichigo?" The person asked.

"Eh?" I looked up wondering who the person was. I tried to keep a low profile at my school so it surprised me that a random person knew me. It was Masaya. "Oh hello." I responded and finished trying to pick up my books. He kneeled down and picked up a book.

"Chemistry?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said as he handed me the book. I looked up and our eyes met for a second. He smiled, tenderly. I rolled my eyes away from his gaze, grabbed my book, and stood up.

"Who do you have?" He asked as I began walking away.

"Excuse me?" I asked cocking an eyebrow as I turned around.

"Who do you have for chemistry?" He asked.

"Um, I don't know the teacher but the room number is F111." I said wrapping my arms around the books, "For period 3."

"Sweet, we have the same class." Masaya laughed.

"Heh, well that's great. See you then." I walked away.

"See you then." He called as I walked the rest of the way down the hall. I seriously had no interest in him any longer. Ever since this morning all I could think about was Ryou. I couldn't believe he kissed me. I smiled and pressed my forefinger to my lips. I was finally happy. I finally felt no jealousy when I saw Masaya.

"_I know what I want and that's to be with you Ichigo." _Ryou said after he kissed me.

I pushed open my second period class door and prepared for a long hour of English. _"I get to see Ryou after school." _I sang in my head as I tapped the pencil on my desk. My teacher yelled at me a couple of times for not paying attention during class but I ignored her, still tapping my pencil on the desk. The bell finally rang and I walked to my next class. It was unfortunate that I had to have Masaya in it.

As I sat down at a desk, Masaya came trotting into the room with one of those 'Hello world, admire me' smiles. I ignored him, hoping he wouldn't sit next to me. That was another wish that didn't come true. He sat next to me and smiled, "Hello Ichigo. How are you?"

"Since an hour ago?" I sneered.

Masaya laughed and nodded, "Something interesting always happens during periods. I was just wondering."

"Well nothing happened." I said rather annoyed, "It was English and none of my friends are in that class."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I'm sure he would've said more but our teacher cut him off as he wrote down the assignment on the board. He talked for minute or two about a lab we were doing then set out all the materials, showing us how to do the first part. It was one of those liquid experiment things and I knew there was bound to be someone in this class who would set off an explosion. Masaya put on his goggles and gloves and stared at me.

"Well?" He asked.

"Well what?" I shrugged.

"Aren't you going to put on your goggles?" He asked.

"Oh, that's right. We're lab partners now. Okay, whatever." I said sarcastically and wrapped the oversized glasses around my head.

Masaya handed me tubes of liquid and I set them in the containers as the directions said. I could feel Masaya's gaze drilling into me but I remained working and paying attention to the liquids. After a minute or two Masaya coughed.

"What?" I asked still pouring in different liquids and writing down the conclusions. I sketched down a few words and asked again, "Yes Masaya?"

"Do you, I don't know, want to start over?" he asked.

"What?" I stared at him.

"We could be a couple again. Let's try it just one more time." Masaya suggested with a tint of plead in his voice.

"I don't think so." I shook my head and poured the new solution in with some powdery looking stuff.

"I know you still feel something for Me." he said. I was in such shock at what he said the tube of liquid slipped from my hands and onto the lab table. It oozed out of the container and onto the floor.

"What?" I exclaimed and grabbed paper towels, wiping up the mess.

"Come on, I know it and you know it. Let's try out our relationship just one more time." Masaya said again.

"Look Masaya, I don't know. First off you're dating Mint and it would be wrong if you cheated on her…"

"Oh, our relationship isn't going so smoothly." He interrupted.

"Is that that only reason you want to hook up with me again? Because I'm happy without you right now. And I'm sure Mint is going to hate your guts when she finds out you're hitting on me again." I threw the paper towels away.

"No, of course not!" Masaya said defensively, "I just thought…"

"But you weren't thinking. Mint is obviously happy with you so don't ruin her happiness. Even if you guy's are having trouble, we had a share of our problems before too. We worked through it now it's your turn to do that with Mint." I turned and poured the powdery stuff in clear liquid. I mixed it and set it over a small flame. That shut up Masaya for a minute. The class was almost over so I decided to pack up, putting the experiments away.

"Can we at least meet after school to talk?" Masaya asked when the bell ran and I was walking out the door. I thought about it a moment.

"I'm meeting a friend but I guess we could talk for a second." I shrugged. Masaya seemed satisfied with the answer and waved walking away. The rest of the school day flew by faster than I thought and before I realized it, the last period bell rang. I walked outside to the front of the gates where Ryou promised he'd pick me up. The rain was still coming down pretty hard but I waited patiently, knowing that he would be coming at any second.

Then Masaya showed up. He ran up to me and asked, "Why can't we just try to start over?" Boy, he got straight to the point on this one.

"Because I found someone else and I'm happy." I said frowning.

"But I miss you. We were happy together before too. I went away for a month and you want to break up?" Masaya seemed upset.

"Masaya this just isn't the time. That was a year ago and you know it. We both knew that our relationship wouldn't last when we're both on different sides of the world." I said shaking my head.

The next thing I knew Masaya wrapped his arms around me, holding me close to his chest. I tried pushing away but his grip was on tight.

"Masaya?" I asked.

"Please," he sounded so pathetic, "Just let me hold you one last time."

"Let me go." I tried pulling away. As I struggled my head turned to the side and I saw something I knew would ruin my day. Ryou stood there with an umbrella, staring at me. He gave a nasty glare and turned around, walking away.

"No!" I yelled, "Ryou!"

Masaya loosened his grip as he heard what I yelled and looked at me. "Is that who you're in love with? Ryou?" he asked. I finally was able to shove him away and I went running down the sidewalk after Ryou. Yes, everything I did went from bad to worse. But was it always my fault?

…_To be continued…

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A/N: Okay everyone; I am sooo sorry for the wait. Like I said, I had finals and then something awesome happened to me. I got a boy friend! Whoo-hoo. I made this chapter super long because it was such a long wait. I needed to get to a point where Ryou was pissed at Ichigo for something. I'm sorry if Masaya seemed OOC much. Anyways, I kept starting this chapter then redoing it so that's pretty much the whole reason why it took so long. Thank you all my reviewers. Now what's happening in the next chapter? Ryou is angry at Ichigo. Ichigo is pleading for forgiveness but not only to Ryou, but to Mint. Can Ryou forgive her for a small mistake or will he shun her away? Can Mint forgive Ichigo or hate her forever? Romance in the ending. And we're getting closer to the last chapter of _My Envious ways. _PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE TELL ME IF THIS CHAPTER WAS TOO LONG OR SUCKED. Thanks again and until my next chapter- KTHM 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey everyone! Well, sorry for the wait. Thanks to all my reviewers. Now, on to the story, I changed the idea around but it has the same references: Everyone makes mistakes, simple, small mistakes. Then there are always misunderstandings. A misunderstanding can always be a mistake. Ichigo just confessed her feelings for Ryou. Ryou accepted them, wanting to be with Ichigo also. Feelings for other people can change, especially an ex. Masaya comes back, wanting to try something new with Ichigo at the wrong time. Ryou catches Ichigo with Masaya, or does he? A simple, small mistake or a misunderstanding? Whichever the one, will Ryou forgive her? Or will she say something to him that'll take their relationship down a whole different path?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

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…_Chapter 8 Ryou's POV…_

Mint sipped at her tea quietly and set it on the table. She patted the bun her hair was tied into while I watched the steam from her cup elevate into the air. The sweet yet strong aroma of passion tea filled the area around us. Mint sighed then shook her head. Her voice was hoarse and sick sounding but she still tried to talk with elegance, "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you're saying. You think that I should stay _low_ with Masaya for a while?" she pointed at the table, referring to low. "Is that a sexual term by any chance?"

"No!" I began correcting myself quickly, "What I mean is…" Mint interrupted me with a cackling laugh. She stopped laughing and began coughing, turning her head away from me. When she was finished, she wiped the tears from her eyes shaking her head.

"Ryou, forgive me for interrupting but I was kidding. When you're sick you have nothing better to do but to tease people. I know what you're saying though. Come," Mint stood up, "walk with me. I feel like I need to move. I've been cooped up in the house infirmary all weekend. I keep telling them it's just a cold and sore throat but they make it such a big deal."

_"Am I being a bit drastic going to Mint like this?" _I wondered and stood up. Mint wrapped her arm around mine and we walked down the stone pathway. Millions of different types of flowers sprouted on each side of the pathway. The sky's had cleared from all the rain earlier that week, leaving white and black puffy clouds in the bright blue sky. Mint seemed to enjoy the feeling of the garden and kept quiet as we walked, which gave me time to think to myself.

It was only yesterday but the image of Ichigo with Masaya lingered in my brain every second since then. I didn't know whom else to talk to except Mint. She was my employee but I also considered her a friend. Shouldn't I after all the years I've known her? But what was I doing, talking to Mint? I was almost tattling on Masaya and Ichigo. Half of me said that I should tell Mint that I caught them together; the other half of me knew that, that hug was just a hug. Though I couldn't accept it.

I felt like a chewed up chemistry test that someone failed and fed to their dog. _"Odd."_ I thought still walking with Mint, _"Implying myself as a piece of paper." _Well I couldn't necessarily say I felt like a piece of paper. But I felt cheated. Like I had given Ichigo something that I cherished deeply and while my back was turned she laughed, threw it on the floor, and squished it with her foot. The sad truth was that I didn't trust Ichigo. We finally tell each other how we feel and she goes off with her ex. Just the thought of her with him again made my cheeks flush furiously with red and my eyes narrowed angrily.

"Is something the matter?" Mint asked and stared up at me. _"Obviously." _I thought rudely but didn't tell her. "Your cheeks are all red and you look angry." I looked down at her and sighed softly. Mint let go of my arm and wandered over to the small bush with red rose buds sprouting on it.

I walked next to her and she plucked off a bud, twirling it in-between her fingers. "So, you came to me to talk about something. Your sigh said that you have a lot on your mind. People sigh when they're upset or anxious or have something on their minds and just can't seem to get it out. I'm listening now." Mint gazed down at the bud.

"I have a question. Hypothetically, and I'll use Zakuro and Keiichiro as an example, what if Zakuro and Keiichiro were dating but broke up. Then Zakuro and I started having feelings for each other. And one day we reveal our feelings for each other but I catch Zakuro hugging Keiichiro later that day. I take it they're seeing each other behind my back so I ignore her from then on. What would you do if you were dating Keiichiro? And what should I do about Zakuro?"

"_Great way to get straight to the point." _I thought sarcastically. Mint raised an eyebrow at me and dropped the bud on the floor. Pure shock rolled over her face and she stared at me in disbelief.

"Hypothetically." I said again, hoping it would wipe that expression from her face. She exhaled a long breath and turned around, strands from her bun sprawled out and dangling around her face. She picked another bud from the bush and began pulling the small, dark red petals off the premature flower. Mint let them go carelessly and I watched as they floated to the ground, landing next to her feet. I waited for her reply that hadn't come yet, still watching the dark red petals float to the ground. The petals lay on the floor, slowly dieing. Soon they would become nothing more then a crunchy, unnoticed brown looking leaf. No one would know they were once petals from a bud that grew on a rose bush and no one would care. It was funny how I paid so much attention to just a bud petal when I hardly paid attention to what Ichigo was saying before we confessed our feelings.

"I think I'd let him go." Mint finally spoke.

"What?" I asked, not sure what she was saying.

"If I found out Keiichiro was cheating on me to be with Zakuro I would let him go." She said playing with a strand of her hair, "I mean, not just because it's for Zakuro, but because obviously he lost interest in me so what's the point of staying with someone if they don't want you. Of course, he would need a really good reason why he never told me earlier about their little secret meetings but people move on even if it is really hard."

I nodded, disappointed in her answer. When she looked up at me from playing with her hair her expression changed immediately and she began saying, "But for you, you would need to fight for Zakuro."

"Why? It's like you said, if they loose interest in you, then they don't want to be with you." I replied.

"You're making it sound like we're a toy or an object of some sort that a child decided not to play with anymore." Mint mumbled angrily, "No, if someone doesn't want to be with you anymore then they don't want to be with you. You can't force them to love you. And what I'm saying is how could you give up on Zakuro just like that? She hugs someone and you just turn away? It goes for Keiichiro and me too. If it was just a hug then it was just a hug."

"What if it was a passionate hug?" I asked while my cheeks began to flush at the memory of how close they were together. _"What the hell is a passionate hug?" _

Mint began to say something when a voice yelled through the garden, "Miss Mint Aizawa, you mustn't be exposed to this cold air while your sick. Please come back inside immediately."

"Oh shit." Mint hissed. I raised my eyebrows not expecting to hear her swear. She crouched down behind another rose bush and began crawling around the row of different bushes, into the grass full of flowers.

"Mint." I called her name quietly, following her.

"Shut up and get down." She whispered with a glare. I did as told and laid on my back in the grass. Yellow, pink, white, and orange flowers sprouted everywhere in the grass, most of them so tall that they hid our bodies from the doctors who were looking for Mint. The breeze blew the flowers and after what seemed forever of silence, I called Mint's name again.

"Mint?" I sat up. The flowers were large indeed. They grew up to around my stomach while I was sitting up. I was impressed with her family's gardening.

"I hate those guy's, they're so bossy." Mint finally said, sitting up in the flowers. I turned around and watched as Mint took yet another flower and picked its petals. This one was fully grown and as Mint let them go, the breeze took them with it. "These flowers are great to hide in though." She stood up, swiping off the pollen and dirt from her light blue sundress. The breeze blew again, ruffling my hair and Mint's dress. The flowers blew softly to the side and I stood up, shoving my hands in my pockets.

I nodded off towards Mint's house, "I got to get going." She didn't look up at me, only pulled off her sandals and nodded with a quiet, "Uh-huh."

"Keiichiro is probably wondering where I am and I think you need to get back inside." I suggested, beginning to walk away.

"Nope." Mint replied and pulled her hair out of her bun. She shook her head and let her hair fall to her shoulders.

"You're sick. You really need to get back inside." I said.

"I'm going down to the pond to go swimming. I can do anything I want. I don't care if I'm sick, I'd rather be having fun while I'm sick then bored." Mint began walking the opposite way as me. I shook my head, disagreeing with her.

"Ryou!" Mint yelled. I turned around, listening to her.

"Never give up on someone if you truly love them! Bye!" Mint yelled waving as she trotted off towards the orchards of fruit trees, where in the middle was a small pond. (I had been there once.) I waved back, walking my own way again.

The Aizawa's residence was a very large home. Not including their 50-acre garden. It was obvious coming from a wealthy family. I guess wealth was something Mint and I had in common (and Zakuro but she was a famous model). Not that I asked for the money, it just kind of came when my parents died. I walked around the house, not wanting to disturb anybody who was inside. Though as much as I didn't want to disturb someone inside, someone outside was beginning to disturb me. As I walked around the corner to the front gate, I noticed someone jumping over it. I watched in curiosity but still walked towards the exit, keeping my distance from the person.

Then the person looked up and over at me. I turned away quickly, pretending that I never saw the fellow. Then the person came walking towards me. _"Is he following me?"_ I wondered, digging my hands in my pockets. The sound of scurrying shoes behind me made me speed up my walk towards the corner of the gate.

"Hey!" The person called and ran faster. I could tell by the deepness in the voice it was a boy but I ignored it, completely not interested in talking to a stranger. Though the person was persistent and kept yelling at me, "Hey! You! Hey! Stop! Wait up a second!" he yelled. Finally when I felt his presence extremely close behind me and the fact that my personally space was being invaded; I lashed around grabbing the boy's shirt. I slammed him against the brick wall that bordered the Aizawa's dwelling and glared at him.

"What. Do. You. Want?" I yelled angrily through my teeth, pausing between each word.

"Whoa, take it easy." The boy said, lifting up his head to stare at me. I frowned, slowly realizing whom the person was. "Masaya?" I asked lifting my eyebrows.

He smiled happily, probably glad that I recognized him, "Yeah, I was trying to catch up with you, but you wouldn't stop."

"I know." I responded. I shoved him against the wall again and then released him, lowering him to the ground. His expression changed to relief and he inhaled a deep breath.

"What do you want?" I sneered crossly.

"I wanted to talk to you about Ichigo…" He began but I stopped him, holding up my hand and walking away.

"No, wait!" He hollered and jogged after me.

"I don't want to hear what you and Momomiya did or what you're planning to do." I rolled my eyes walking through the gates.

"No, you don't understand…" he began again and I once again stopped him.

"There are lots of things I understand. I am a scientist. I see something and take note of it. I don't want to talk to Ichigo right now, nor do I want to see her. What I do expect from Ichigo is for her to be at work on time and ready to take orders from our customers. You should be happy that I didn't tell Mint of _your_ little shenanigans." I gave one last glare and went marching down the sidewalk.

"But, you don't understand!" Masaya called again. I ignored it this time, shaking my head, disagreeing completely.

When I got to the café, Lettuce was already there taking orders from a customer. I was surprised to see her so early; I was also surprised to see her hair not in braids. Her straight hair dangled all the way down her back and as she turned around, her glasses were gone. She grinned at me as I walked by and her cheeks reddened.

"Good morning." She greeted, still smiling.

"Morning." I grinned kind of lazily.

"I take it Mint isn't going to come to work?" She asked, the red in her cheeks deepening.

I wondered what was wrong and answered, "She's sick."

"Um, what about Ichigo?" Lettuce twirled a strand of hair around her finger nervously.

"I'm not sure. When did you decide to let your hair down, and where are your glasses?" I asked.

"Huh?" Lettuce tilted her head and the red in her cheeks began to lighten, "For the past week my hair had been down and I got contacts. You never noticed?" I must've been the rudest person to not notice she had changed. Was I so caught up in Ichigo that I never noticed Lettuce?

"No, I haven't seen you for the past couple of days." I responded, not trying to sound so rude. Lettuce looked disappointed and stared down at her shoes.

"Uh, but it looks really nice on you. It's a real change." I smiled.

Lettuce perked up and smiled. She mumbled a thank you and ran into the kitchen. I sat down at a table and thought for a moment. Did I ever notice any of my employees? Ever since Ichigo and I had started becoming close, I think I forgot about most of my employees, my closest friends. I gazed at the wall for a while before Lettuce came walking back out of the kitchen with a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries in her hands. They reminded me of Ichigo. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the memory of her. It was so pathetic how I thought about her. She went off with her ex on her own, so I had no need to think about her anymore. It had only been a day, but maybe I should have started thinking about different girls. Ichigo wasn't worth it if she wasn't going to be faithful. Was she?

After Lettuce served the customer his food, she walked over to my table and sat down in the chair next to me. "You seem to have a lot on your mind, Ryou." She said.

"I do." I responded.

"Would you, um like to tell me about anything?" She asked twirling her fingers.

"No." Was on the verge of my tongue and I knew, if I hadn't got a good look at Lettuce than I would've said it. Lettuce shook her head, long strands of straight emerald colored hair brushing against her pink cheeks. She titled her head and smiled caringly. I smiled back. At the moment she was the only one who really seemed interested in what I was saying.

"Lettuce," I started, "You know you're a good person right?"

"Oh no!" She blushed deeply and shook her head, "You mustn't flatter me Ryou. I don't deserve it."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, leaning closer to her on the table.

"Um," she blushed, "well, I uh, I need to get the other two orders for the, uh customer. I'll be back in a minute." She stood up from the table and rushed into the kitchen. I snickered quietly to myself and shook my head. Lettuce was very kind but she could never seem to accept it. Maybe that was what I was like, never able to accept anything. I couldn't seem a grasp the fact that my feelings for Ichigo were still there.

"_Maybe it's just a crush." _I pondered and leaned back in the chair. Crushes never stayed long. They always seem to die when they're not accepted. I stared up at the ceiling.

"Ryou." A voice called as I went into a daze for a minute.

"Huh?" I snapped out of it and looked away from the ceiling. I stared up at Lettuce's face as she asked me if something was the matter. I laughed, "Everything's fine." But as I did that, I lost my balance and the chair tipped back, sending me on a collision to the floor. For a second everything seemed to go in slow motion; the door to café opened, Lettuce squealed in worry, and the customer began laughing his ass off as he saw what was happening. After the second, I slammed against the pink and white tiled floor.

"Are you aright?" Lettuce asked while I opened my eyes.

"It's fine. A small mistake." I said and stared up at her. She was really close my face…I mean REALLY close. If I leaned in just a little I could have kissed her on the lips. It must've been a strange sight to the customer to see a blond haired teenager and a green haired teenager on the floor, their faces so close together that they could kiss. But it probably wasn't because the customer was laughing so hard, chunks of chewed up chocolate and strawberry came spewing out of his mouth. _"Idiot." _I thought, glaring at him.

"Um Ryou." Lettuce began and I stared into her hazel eyes. I could never really get a good look at them behind her thin-rimed, circular glasses.

"Y-yeah?" I stuttered, never moving from the position on the ground.

"I, uh…" Lettuce closed her eyes.

"I am appalled!" A loud voice shouted from the door. Lettuce and I both turned and looked to where the voice came from. I was shocked to see who was standing there.

"Mint?" I asked propping myself up on my elbow. Lettuce immediately stood up, backing away from me as if I was a deadly disease.

"I _cannot_ believe you Shirogane." Mint shouted (even though it was a noticeable she was straining her voice), her hands on her hips.

"What are you doing here?" I asked standing up, "You're sick. You should be back at home… Or swimming."

Mint walked towards me and began poking me in my chest, "You are the sick person. First off, you loved Ichigo and what is this? You prowling on innocent Lettuce? She has a boyfriend!" Shock overwhelmed me and I turned and looked at Lettuce.

"I was going to tell you right then." Lettuce blushed, folding her hands close to her chest. I swallowed, feeling like a fool. I was an idiot! The door to the café opened again and someone stepped in.

"Second off I came down here to return your wallet. It fell out in the grass." Mint held out the brown, leather wallet. I reached for it but she pulled it back instantly and curled her hands into fists. "You loved Ichigo! What are you doing?" Mint yelled again.

"I _liked _Ichigo. Yeah, there were feelings but not anymore." I remained staring down at Mint. I couldn't exactly mean it.

"What's the sudden change?" Mint coughed out, throwing her arms in the air.

"She did something I can't forgive." I hissed quietly through my teeth hoping that I wasn't making a scene.

"What was so terrible that you can never forgive her?" Mint screeched. I just shook my head. Mint began to become angry and inpatient for an answer.

"Well," she yelled shoving me, though I didn't even move an inch back, "What did she do? What did Ichigo do?" She repeatedly began asking that and every time I shook my head. Finally she reached up and slapped me. I raised my eyebrows and touched where her slap stung my cheek.

"Tell me damn it!" Mint's fists shook in fury, "Tell me!"

"Why do you care?" I asked angrily.

"Because she's my best friend and you're my boss and in order for us all to obtain peace you both need to be happy. Because I care!" she stomped her foot like a child. Mint was so used to getting what she wanted that this was beginning to piss her off.

"Ichigo cheated on me with Masaya." I blurted out. My eyes widened and I couldn't believe that slipped out. There was a gasp from the corner and Mint and I turned to look at a red haired girl.

"I-Ichigo," Mint's eyes widened with dismay, "How could you?"

"N-no Mint. It's not the truth. It's not the whole thing. It really isn't." Ichigo began walking towards her. Mint shook her head backing towards the café's doors.

"I'll never forgive you." Mint coughed out and turned to run out the doors. But that was before she bumped right into Masaya.

Masaya grabbed her shoulders and asked, "Mint, what's wrong?"

Mint pulled away from Masaya and shoved him, "I never want to speak to you two again, Masaya and Ichigo." Mint yelled, running down the street. Her driver was only around the corner so that was her get away car. No one would catch her after that. Masaya looked coldly at Ichigo and then ran after Mint anyways.

Ichigo turned and looked at me, tears rolling down her cheeks. I wanted to so badly reach out and wipe them away but I stopped myself, turning away.

"Ryou?" Ichigo asked. Lettuce had already left the room and the customer had probably gone to the restrooms.

"Ichigo I don't want to speak to you right now." I said swallowing.

"Please Ryou?" Ichigo pleaded, "You don't understand. What you saw was…"

"Nothing?" I spat furiously, turning around to glare at her.

"Ryou it really wasn't what you thought it was." Ichigo replied.

"I know what I saw. And Ichigo, I don't date girls who aren't faithful. What I saw was beyond merciless. How could you do that? Just go off with your ex behind my back. If you truly cared then you wouldn't have done that, that's why I don't think we should ever speak to each other again." I said half-heartedly. That wasn't really what I meant. I didn't mean it at all.

"_Caring? _If you truly cared you wouldn't be like this." Ichigo said quietly, "If you truly cared you wouldn't just leave me like this. You wouldn't take what you saw as a fact and never forgive me, never want to see me again." I listened to her, hanging on every edge of her words.

"You would never ever be a jerk if you didn't care. In fact, Mr. Shirogane if you really cared about me then you would have never said anything to Mint. Now she believes something insincere and wont ever talk to me again! You're a jerk! And I don't care if you don't care!" with that she turned around and ran out of the café just like Mint had.

It always seemed to end like that. With her just leaving, making her words slap me in the face like Mint had. There was a muffled sound and I turned around facing the customer. He was a young man, maybe a year older than me. He stared at me through his square-shaped glassed and ran a hand through his bright brown hair.

"You know, this is probably not my place but you should go after her. What that young lady said was right. It's all about how much you care for the person you love no matter what they did. If she really means what she said about the whole thing being a misunderstanding than you should believe her. If you don't than that's your loss. By the way, my compliments on the lovely chocolate covered strawberries." The man said. I was kind of speechless. Lettuce came walking out of the back and looked up and over at the man and me. Her eyes light up and she walked over to the customer.

"Are you leaving?" she asked him.

"You know him?" I asked. She nodded and the man wrapped his arm around Lettuce.

"This is Haru, Ryou. He's my new boyfriend." Lettuce beamed. Haru winked and said, "Nice to meet you, Ryou."

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… "_A Misunderstanding?"_ I wondered walking down the side of the street. It was getting late and wandering around thinking was doing me no good. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets and walked up to the house. Ichigo's house that was. I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to actually talk with Ichigo about what happened. I was wrong to assume the worst when I saw her with Masaya. 

I lightly tapped on the off-white colored door with the back of my hand, the other still shoved into my pocket. There was silence for a while and then someone opened the door. I could've mistaken the older woman for Ichigo if I hadn't met her before.

"Mrs. Momomiya." I greeted her with a grin.

"Mr. Shirogane." She gave a smug look and I began to shrink under her gaze.

"Um, is uh, Ichigo here, by any chance?" I asked, my fingers jingling the change in my pocket. Was I beginning to loose my cool? Was this woman really that intimidating?

"I'm sorry," she shook her head, "but I haven't seen Ichigo since she left this morning. Didn't she go to work?"

I backed away from the door, "Yeah she did show up for work. Um, I think I have a good idea where she went for her lunch break. I was wondering if she came here, that's all." I lied.

"Oh," Ichigo's mother puckered her lips and began to blush, "Were you going to take my precious baby on a lunch date? That is so romantic!" she swooned. I waved and began to walk away from the patio. _"As soon as Mrs. Momomiya shuts that door I'll run to where Ichigo is." _I planned in my head. But my planning was interrupted when she grabbed the back of my jacket, yanking me back to the door.

"Or did you do something to upset my poor baby, Mr. Shirogane? Because it is pretty late for lunch." Mrs. Momomiya asked with a tint of annoyance.

"Uh, no Mrs. Momomiya. I would never!" I struggled to get away.

"Okay," she let me go, "Get my baby home soon or I'll send my husband out looking for you two." Ichigo's mother sang.

I fixed the collar of my jacket and imagined Mr. Momomiya coming after Ichigo and I. That was a nightmare I did not look forward too. I listened to Mrs. Momomiya shut the door and I took off. I ran down the street and around the corner. About 2 miles away was the park. That's where I knew Ichigo was. That's where I knew I'd find her.

That's where I knew I would tell her I cared. I cared and I would never let her from my arms again.

…_To be continued…

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A/N: I am so sorry readers. The wait was very long and I apologize but a lot has been going on. First off, I'm really sick right now. Second off, I just started up softball. And third off…I broke up with my boyfriend so it's been a little hard. I know it's no excuse to really keep you guy's waiting but it's hard on me. Anyways, I noticed my last chapter had an overused plotline and I apologize for that as well. I don't know about this chapter but I felt like I didn't work so hard on it. Um, Haru was my OOC; there was no Haru in the series. He was a spur of the moment kind of thing. You wont hear from him anymore. So if you didn't like him it's okay, he's long gone. So yeah, the next chapter is the last one and I'm going to keep it a surprise (though it'll be kind of obvious). Until then, thank you all of my reviewers- KTHM 


	9. The End!

A/N: Last chapter. Thank you reviewers, enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

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… _Chapter nine, Ichigo's POV… _

"If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."—Anon.

For the moment it seemed like time had stopped. That eerie feeling of terror eluded me and I wanted to die. I wanted to collapse to the floor and just die. But I had to actually _talk_ to Ryou. I always had to be the last to talk in order to be on top. I should've just shut my mouth and walked out of the café, like any normal rejected girl would've. But I was not only rejected, I was torn apart, smashed, and spit on by _all_ of my close friends and not just by Ryou. I stared up at the sky and checked my watch. It was 4:49 but it seemed later because of the gray rain clouds that lingered high in the air.

_"Clear sky's today, perfect change from the constant rain." _The weatherman sang earlier this morning. I took a deep breath and ignored the tears that crowded my eyes. Slowly I finished walking around the lake and shuffled over to 'the bench'. The one everyone always sat on. I rubbed my right arm with my left hand and contemplated just going home. _"What's the point of sitting here if no one is going to sit with me?"_ I wondered as the tears I worked so hard to keep from coming, rolled down my cheeks.

"I'm so pathetic." I cried into my hands as I sat on the bench. The few tears that I had tried to hold back now turned into sobs and I cried uncontrollably. I thanked God it was getting late and not many people were out walking in the park to actually notice me. I finally stopped long enough to breathe but my bottom lip began to quiver and I started up crying again.

_"Your being unreasonable, Ichigo. Crying will get you nowhere in life." _My great aunts words chimed in as I remembered something from when I was little. I was being baby sat while my parents were away on a Valentines Day weekend. I must've been ten and the boy who I had a crush on didn't give me a Valentines Day gift. I came home and cried my heart out but my Aunt just shook her head, disapproving in my reaction. _"Disgraceful." _She called my crying. I sat up on the bench and wiped my eyes.

_"I will not disgrace myself." _I decided but then another thought came to mind. When mom and dad come back from their vacation I told mom about my present less Valentines Day and how I cried. She hugged me and said, _"It's all right to cry. You're crying for something you love. It's an emotion and you can't help it." _The tears came flooding back and I silently wiped them away.

"What's the point?" I sighed. Great Aunt Momomiya was right! It didn't matter; my crying would do no good for me. And it would get me nowhere. I took a deep breath and slumped on the bench. I got a boyfriend, was dumped by him, was yelled at by him, my best friend now hates me, and my best guy friend is blaming his action on me. "All in less than day." I murmured and rubbed my arms from the cold air. The once light evening breeze now became a strong wind and I stood up, rubbing my arms.

"I should've brought a jacket." I crossed my arms and began to walk home.

"This should help." Someone said and before I could look up, a jacket was around my shoulders. I would've expected it to be Masaya, since we both had something in common: The people we loved both hated us. But it wasn't. I would've wished for it to be Ryou at first, but not all wishes can come true.

"Daddy?" My eyes widened at who it was. My dad laughed, patted my head, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "What are you doing here?" I asked as we began walking.

"Well your mother called me on my cell phone to go look for you and a so-called Mr. Shirogane but I only found you. Imagine that, my little girl on a late at night lunch date." My dad laughed.

_"What is he talking about?" _I wondered and stared up at him.

"Oh yes, and I found something that you might like as I came looking for you." Dad snapped his fingers and began walking faster. I jogged after him and we turned a corner that left the parks entrance. He stopped dead in his tracks and I bumped into his back.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Mr. Shirogane." My dad said and held out his hand. I gasped and backed away quickly from my dads back.

"Mr. Momomiya." Ryou said and shook my dads hand. _"How could he just shake my dads hand and act like he isn't still angry with me?"_ I wondered nervously and looked down at my sneakers. I played with the cuff of my dad's jacket and pretended I didn't know Ryou, though I knew that was stupid. _"Your parents already know that he's your boss? Obviously you'll know him." _My mind said.

"I know, shut up." I hissed to myself. My dad turned around and laughed.

"Ichigo, this is Mr. Shirogane, your boss. You can at least say hello." He said.

I gazed at Ryou's face and I began to blush deeply. He didn't look _as_ angry but he still had this pissed look. I couldn't say hello casually, not like I used to.

"Uh…um." I drew my eyes away from his and looked every which way.

"Excuse me, Mr. Momomiya." Ryou sighed and took a step to the side.

"I would like to speak with your daughter though." He said right before he walked past me.

"Yeah, sure. Have her home soon though." My dad smiled, waved and walked to his car that wasn't parked too far away.

Ryou looked at me and his expression didn't change, "Come with me."

I swallowed and nodded, following behind him. He trotted back to the park and we walked all the way to 'the bench' again.

"Please sit." He said pointing at the bench. I nodded ever more nervous than before and slowly sat down. The feeling of being in a courtroom didn't help at all with my nervousness and I began to wring my wrists. Ryou still stood up, leaning on the oak tree close to the bench. He didn't look at me but at the pond (lake thing). A few floating ducks took notice to the approaching evening and waddled out of the water. They huddled together and sat down on the grass.

"I'm sorry." I finally blurted out. Ryou turned and looked at me. "I'm so, so, so sorry." Tears ran down my cheeks. Maybe it was the fact that his presence was just making my nervous that made me break down and cry or I was scared out of my wits. "What you saw wasn't my fault. Masaya," I cried a little harder, "Masaya just grabbed onto me. Things weren't going so well with Mint and he thought that I could make up for that. But when he figured out that I wanted you he let me go. By then though it was too late." I leaned forward and sobbed into my hands, my elbows resting on my thighs.

I could not believe what I was doing. I was crying my heart out in front of Ryou. _"You're disgracing yourself. Stop that!" _I told myself over and over again but other words told me to keep going.

_"It's all right to cry. You're crying for something you love. It's an emotion and you can't help it." _Mom said that it was all right and that's why I didn't and couldn't stop.

"Ichigo?" Ryou called my name softly. He set his hand on my back and but that didn't stop me either.

"I'm s-sorry." I hiccupped.

"Don't…don't apologize." He muttered and ran his hand over my head.

"S-sorry." I stuttered, the tears came lighter and I sat up straight.

"Stop saying you're sorry." He said. I wiped the tears away and looked at him. "Now listen. I finally understand what happened. It was my mistake. Or misunderstanding. I see things and take them as that. I should…apologize. I want us to be more than just employees." He looked at me.

I looked away and frowned slightly, "Now that I got all the crying out of my system and actually have a chance to talk to you, I think you're right. Maybe we should, I don't know, start all over or something. Because…" I didn't have time to finish. Ryou grasped my chin and pulled me towards his mouth, kissing me lightly on the lips

The rain started and came down in sheets, soaking us both. We let go and I stared up at the sky. "Shouldn't we get out of this rain?" I asked.

"Why?" Ryou asked sitting back on the bench, "We've caught each other in it before." I laughed and leaned back, resting my head on his shoulder.

"What about Mint and Masaya?" I forgot about them. _"Nice! Forgetting about your best friend who probably hates your guts." _

"I'll explain to Mint that it was a misunderstanding. I wont make 'what's-his-buns' (Masaya) seem like the bad guy either." Ryou said and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

I smiled and realized that, that's probably where I'd rather been: in the soaking rain, on 'the bench', with the boy I treasured the most right next to me. My envious ways were replaced and I no longer needed to be jealous of my best friend.

"_I'll have to tell her that."_ I thought with a grin. It was like that one guy said, "If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."_(—Anon.)_

I recognized then how true it was as Ryou intertwined his fingers with mine, the rain still pouring, and the feeling of adore and love still lingering.

_The End!

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A/N: As I said, this was the last chapter. I think I might cry! I love all of my precious readers and reviewers _soooooo _much! I really appreciate that everyone stuck with the story and read it as much as they could. Thank you everyone. I would write everyone's name down and how much I appreciate them, but I don't want to leave anyone out so I'll just say how much I appreciate everyone! I love you all! 

I also want to thank my best friends for supporting me, especially my best friend, Lauren. She really inspired me to write this story because of her and herex-boyfriend, Andrew. No one knows _WHAT _I had to endure when they were dating, which gave me the idea of _'My Envious Ways'. _So now everyone knows my little secret on how I came up with this idea. Heh. I'm working on another story for Tokyo Mew Mew that should be up sooner or later. (That's what I always say.) It's another romance too! Thank you everyone again, I love you all! I appreciate you guy's reading thisstory. Sorry if this wasn't such a satisfying ending but it was all I could conjure up. Thanks again for reading _'My Envious Ways'_- KTHM


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